UN warns of worsening humanitarian situation in Syria's Aleppo

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Syria's Aleppo City, where an estimated 31,500 people are displaced from areas in eastern Aleppo retaken by the government of Syria, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"This includes around 26,500 people displaced to government-held areas or Sheikh Maqsoud, as well as some 5,000 people who are displaced within east Aleppo," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"The UN and partners are scaling up their humanitarian response in Aleppo and responding to the needs of the newly displaced in all areas they can access with shelter, food, and health assistance," he said. "Today, three UN inter-agency teams are being dispatched to assess the needs of the newly displaced who have arrived from eastern Aleppo.

"The protection situation for civilians remains precarious," Dujarric said, adding that reports have emerged of the detention of people crossing into government-held areas, while 45 civilians were reportedly killed by shelling on Nov. 30 as they attempted to cross into west Aleppo.

"With the onset of winter and the possibility of thousands more people fleeing the eastern part of the city in the coming days, insufficient and inadequate shelter space is a major concern," he said. "Some sites hosting internally displaced people are already filled to capacity and other sites are not properly winterized and are only suitable shelter for a few days."

"Meanwhile, conditions for those remaining in besieged parts of eastern Aleppo remain extremely dire," the spokesman said.

"The UN remains ready to provide immediate assistance to, and medical evacuations for, civilians inside eastern Aleppo," he said. "In addition, truckloads of humanitarian supplies stand ready to deliver humanitarian assistance in eastern Aleppo from Turkey and west Aleppo." Enditem