Israel Matzav

Thousands of Syrians stranded trying to escape to Jordan, blame US and Europe

Thousands of Syrians from the areas attacked with chemical weapons are trying to make their way south to Jordan. But the Syrian air force has been bombing the area, preventing these refugees from reaching the border area.

Refugees say they have been marooned by an ongoing Syrian bombing campaign, unable either to cross into Jordan or return to their homes. They say they have moved into abandoned schoolhouses, disused bakeries and demolished buildings in towns and villages across the south amid near-constant air raids as they await a chance to leave.

“We have no money, no food, no home and now nowhere left to go,” said Mohammed al- Saeed, who has been living in a makeshift shelter in the border town of Tal Shihab with his family of five since fleeing his home town of Ghouta Sharqiyyeh, or Eastern Ghouta, five days ago. “Sometimes I believe we would be better off dead.”

Local residents say the influx from Ghouta has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with municipalities running low on staples such as flour and cooking oil and unable to care for people allegedly suffering from trauma and gas poisoning.

“We are trying to host our brothers and sisters from the Damascus countryside as best we can, but we cannot even feed them, let alone treat them,” said Ahmed al-Saad, an activist with the Local Coordination Committees opposition network in Tal Shihab, which has reportedly taken in 5,000 refugees in the past week.

In the rebel-held town, residents and activists say they have set up a hospital in a local mosque but are able to offer only expired aspirin tablets and herbal remedies to men, women and children exhibiting signs of gas poisoning.

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News of impending Western-led airstrikes against the Syrian government offered little solace to the Ghouta survivors, many of whom hold the United States and European countries responsible for Syria’s use of chemical weapons and their current plight.

“For two years, the world has watched in silence as Bashar killed 200,000 of our children,” said Um Ahmed al-Dimashqi, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Dimashqi, who arrived in Tal Shihab on Monday, said her son was killed in Ghouta. “Why did my son have to be number 200,001 for the world to take notice?” she said.

Here's video of UN chemical weapons inspectors at work taking soil samples in an area where there was a chemical weapons attack.

Let's go to the videotape.



What could go wrong?

Labels: chemical weapons, Jordan, Syria, Syrian army, Syrian refugees

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:26 PM