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UNICEF Plans to Help About 50,000 People Fleeing Syria

by VOA News

   The United Nations children's relief organization has finalized plans
   to assist as many as 50,000 people fleeing the Syrian enclave of
   eastern Ghouta, its spokesman said Friday.

   "We have been working, planning to respond to evacuations for a while,
   and specifically to provide shelters with emergency assistance," UNICEF
   spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said at a briefing Friday in Geneva. "Our
   response plans cover up to 50,000 people."

   Syrian government forces launched a campaign to recapture the besieged
   area near Damascus last month. The largest exodus of people occurred
   Thursday, when thousands of civilians fled the rebel-held eastern
   Ghouta town of Hammouriyeh as the Syrian army continued to make
   inroads, according to the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human
   Rights. Russia said the number of people who left Thursday exceeded
   12,000.

   Airstrikes in eastern Ghouta continued for a second day Friday, killing
   dozens of people.

   Amnesty International accused the Syrian and Russian governments and
   other participants in the war of failing to end "the suffering of
   millions of Syrians" and to stop attacks on civilians in eastern Ghouta
   and Afrin.

   The human rights group said 400,000 civilians in eastern Ghouta "are
   being starved and indiscriminately bombed by the Syrian government with
   the backing of Russia."

   Amnesty called on the United Nations Security Council to "enforce its
   resolutions, which call for an end to unlawful sieges and attacks." The
   group also urged the council to refer those responsible for "war crimes
   and crimes against humanity" to the International Criminal Court.

   Additionally, the rights group requested that all parties involved in
   the war obey international law by allowing civilians who want to flee
   the area to leave freely and to provide unrestricted access to
   humanitarian aid.