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UN relief chief calls for immediate lifting of sieges of civilians in Syria

Xinhua, August 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN relief chief Stephen O'Brien on Tuesday reiterated his call on all the warring parties in Syria for "the immediate lifting of sieges of civilians" in the war-torn country.

In a statement issued here Tuesday night, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs also urged all the parties to take all necessary measures to protect civilians as required under international humanitarian and human rights law.

"I once again call on all parties for the immediate lifting of sieges of civilians in Syria, including Madaya, Deir-Ez-Zor city, Douma, Foah and Kefraya and other besieged locations, for an end to indiscriminate attacks on civilian-populated areas and civilian infrastructure," he said.

"The people of Syria have suffered long enough, the civilian population, the most vulnerable, children, women, disabled and the elderly are the ones caught in the middle of fighting," he said in the statement.

The senior UN official's appeal came after the Aug. 26-27 evacuation of the entire population of the besieged town of Darayya under an agreement between representatives of Darayya and the Syrian government.

O'Brien, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, said in the statement that "the UN was not a party to this agreement, and was not informed of the evacuation until a few hours before it took place."

He expressed worries about any forced displacement as a result of the evacuation, noting "all sieges, a medieval tactic, must be lifted" without "any type of agreement which results in the forced displacement of the civilian population."

All those displaced should be allowed to return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity, to their homes as soon as the situation allows it, he said.

Darayya has been out of the government control since 2012, but was later put under a tight siege by the Syrian government forces.

Under the deal, more than 4,000 civilians will be evacuated to displacement shelters in government-controlled areas, while 700 rebels will hand over their heavy and medium weapons, which will be transferred to the northwestern province of Idlib, a stronghold for the rebels' Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, state news agency SANA reported.

The rebels who don't want to evacuate can stay inside the town, after settling their criminal records with the government, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said.

The civilians who want to stay will be provided with medical aid, it added. Endi