UN asks for humanitarian access to Syria's Eastern Ghouta

UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Wednesday asked for humanitarian access to Syria's Eastern Ghouta as people are returning to the former rebel enclave.

"The United Nations continues to call on all parties, and those with influence over them, to allow safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to all in need in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law," said chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday.

Since May 15, more than 7,000 people at sites for displaced people in rural Damascus have returned to Eastern Ghouta, following two months of displacement, he quoted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as saying.

The United Nations is providing humanitarian aid through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to those who remained or who have returned to Eastern Ghouta, but has not been able to access Eastern Ghouta to undertake its own deliveries, Dujarric told a daily press briefing.

The last UN humanitarian delivery to Eastern Ghouta was on March 15, before the rebel-held area fell into the hands of the Syrian government.

"It is also imperative that all displaced people be allowed to return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity, to their homes as soon as the situation allows, and that freedom of movement of civilians be ensured by all parties on the ground," said the spokesman. Enditem