Médecins Sans Frontières Calls For Evacuation Of Syrian Casualties

By Josh Butler Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 2015 (IPS) - With conflict in Syria showing no sign of abatement, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Thursday demanded the evacuation of those injured in the city of Aleppo.

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been the scene for months of fighting and aerial bombings. MSF director of operations Raquel Ayora said “tens of thousands of people” in the city had been trapped and cut off from medical assistance due to the conflict.

“This already grave humanitarian crisis will deteriorate further if medical teams have no access to the area and there is no way to get in supplies,” Ayora said.

“We call on parties to the conflict to allow the population to seek refuge in safe areas and provide humanitarian assistance.”

MSF claims a wave of families are attempting to flee Aleppo for the Turkish border, in hope of finding relatives or safety in refugee camps.

Fighting earlier this week saw 21 people admitted to an MSF hospital near the Turkish border. A further 11 were admitted to an MSF hospital in Aleppo, but medical staff were forced to flee the centre due to security threats.

“Our paramount concern is that the clashes block the only road open between Aleppo and the northern border with Turkey, making it almost impossible to run ambulance services and provide medical and humanitarian assistance to the people trapped by war in eastern Aleppo,” Ayora said.

The MSF hospital in Aleppo saw 16,000 patients, 6,000 emergency room consultations, and admitted over 400 patients in 2014.

MSF staff also provide support to 120 clinics and field hospitals through Syria, as well as caring for Syrians who have fled the country into Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

The organisation has urged all fighting parties to allow the evacuation of the injured and wounded for medical care.

A United Nations special envoy said this week that the Syrian government had pledged to trial a ceasefire and suspend aerial bombings on Aleppo for six weeks, but said it was unclear when the agreement would take effect. Rebel forces in Aleppo reportedly expressed little optimism for any such agreement to be reached.