UN calls on Russia to implement full 30-day ceasefire in eastern Ghouta | News | DW | 01.03.2018

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UN calls on Russia to implement full 30-day ceasefire in eastern Ghouta

Humanitarian groups are unable to deliver vital supplies into eastern Ghouta in the short pause in fighting offered by Russia, the UN reports. But aid convoys are having more luck in other areas of Syria.

Approximately 120 years old mosque is seen damaged after Assad regime carried out airstrikes in Douma town of Eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria on March 01, 2018.

On Thursday, the United Nations called on Russia to implement a 30-day ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, reporting that the "compromise" of a daily five-hour pause in attacks was ineffective for delivering aid.

In February, the UN Security Council voted unanimously for a 30-day Syria-wide ceasefire to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations, but Russia-backed government forces have only implemented a brief daily pause in their otherwise relentless offensive in eastern Ghouta, a region outside of Damascus.

Read more: Syria blame game intensifies over stalled Ghouta truce

Syrian Red Crescent ambulances wait at a designated point to evacuate the ill civilians from the fighting Eastern Ghouta countryside.

No civilians have been able to flee from Eastern Ghouta during the five-hour pauses

'Copycat of us'

Two UN envoys addressed the issue, both saying it was impossible to deliver aid and evacuate medical cases effectively within a five-hour window.

Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian taskforce for Syria, told diplomats from 23 states attending a weekly meeting in Geneva:

  • The only convoy to reach the region in 2018 came in mid-February and had aid for just 7,200 people. No one has successfully used the new humanitarian corridors. There are some 400,000 civilians in eastern Ghouta.
  • A "two-way" humanitarian corridor is needed, allowing several convoys each week, while 1,000 priority medical cases must be evacuated for treatment.
  • "We have 43 trucks standing by to go there and full warehouses to load into the trucks as soon as we get the permit."

Read more: What foreign powers want from the Syrian war

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters:

  • The UN will continue to seek the 30-day ceasefire mandated by the Security Council.
  • "We will continue asking until we are red in the face, blue in the face." 
  • "We are determined because otherwise this becomes the copycat of Aleppo.”

The US State Department later slammed the humanitarian corridors as a "joke," saying people were afraid to use them for fear of conscription, exile or death.

Elsewhere in Syria on Thursday, a convoy with aid for 50,000 displaced people arrived in Afrin, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Turkey continues to fight against Kurdish rebels in the area.

  • Man carrying wounded man in eastern Ghouta (picture-alliance/dpa/AP/Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    Enclave under siege

    More than 1,500 people have been killed since Syrian government troops backed by Russia launched a ferocious attack on eastern Ghouta on February 18. Airstrikes have reduced much of the area near Damascus to ruins. According to the UN, there were an estimated 400,000 people trapped inside the besieged enclave without access to food and water when the offensive began.

  • Damaged buildings in Douma, eastern Ghouta (Reuters/B. Khabieh)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    'Hell on earth'

    The town of Douma, with its 200,000 residents, is now the only remaining Ghouta pocket still under rebel control. The full recapture of eastern Ghouta would mark a significant victory for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Referring to the month-long assault on the enclave, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded "this hell on earth" be stopped immediately.

  • Child and man with breathing masks (Reuters/B. Khabieh)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    Reports of chemical attack

    According to activists and doctors in the region, several people have suffered symptoms consistent with those triggered by a chlorine gas attack and had to be treated in hospital. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned the Syrian regime that the use of chemical weapons will result in French retaliation, but the Syrian government claims it has never used this kind of munition.

  • Man inspecting remains of a missile (Reuters/B. Khabieh)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    300,000 killed

    A man and child look at the remains of a missile in Douma, the largest in eastern Ghouta. More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2011, when the government cracked down on protesters who were calling for the release of political prisoners and for President Assad to step down.

  • Man carrying water canisters (Reuters/B. Khabieh)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    'Rapid spread of malnutrition'

    Activists say people in Douma have little food or water. Marten Mylius, the emergency relief coordinator for CARE in the Middle East, told DW that "after the tunnels were destroyed and the crossings closed, the price of basic foods skyrocketed. One kilo of rice now costs $4.50 (€3.66). A lot of people cannot afford that anymore. In other words, we are witnessing a rapid spread of malnutrition."

  • Man clearing rubble (Reuters/B. Khabieh)

    Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

    At the mercy of the regime

    Aid access to eastern Ghouta is difficult because there is no direct route from neighboring countries. "In Idlib, for example...you can get in directly from the Turkish border. You can wait with supplies at the border and then bring in the convoy. It is much more difficult in eastern Ghouta," Mylius told DW.

    Author: Natalie Muller


Hundreds killed: The bloody campaign in eastern Ghouta, a series of towns and farms outside the Syrian capital, has killed more than 550 people in just 11 days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is one of the last major rebel outposts near Damascus and the recently stepped-up efforts to crush rebel groups has had massive collateral damage.

Watch video 03:49
Now live
03:49 mins.

Is there any relief in Eastern Ghouta? Journalist Nour Adam speaks to DW

Complex task: Delivering aid to war zones requires tricky logistics. The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross both said it is impossible to deliver humanitarian aid in five hours. They say it can take a full day just to pass all the checkpoints, and then they have to unload the goods.

Seven-year war: More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2011 following a government crackdown on protesters calling for the release of political prisoners and for President Bashar Assad to step down. Since then, the conflict has evolved into a multifaceted war, drawing in global superpowers, neighboring countries and non-state actors.

aw/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)

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Watch video 01:40
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Syria blame game intensifies over stalled Ghouta truce

Washington and Moscow criticize each other for the failure of a truce near Syria's capital, Damascus. Residents remain trapped in the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, while humanitarian convoys remain on standby. (01.03.2018)  

Syrian forces gain ground in Eastern Ghouta despite truce

A temporary ceasefire offered up by Russia appears to have been wholly ineffective as violence continues. Russia blames rebel groups for the outbreaks of violence during the daily humanitarian pause. (28.02.2018)  

UN Security Council votes for 30-day ceasefire in Syria without delay

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to approve a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire in Syria. Shortly after the vote, reports suggested that warplanes had once again struck the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta. (24.02.2018)  

What foreign powers want from the Syrian war

The Syrian opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are not the only groups fighting in the conflict. Other countries have also intervened to pursue their own interests. (21.02.2018)  

Assault on eastern Ghouta, Syria in pictures

Hundreds have been killed in one of the Syrian regime's most intense bombing campaigns since the war began in 2011. DW looks at the devastation inflicted on one of the last rebel-held towns. (26.02.2018)  

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Is there any relief in Eastern Ghouta? Journalist Nour Adam speaks to DW  

Syrian gov't steps up airstrikes after temporarary truce  

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