Syria in silence petition
SYRIA IN SILENCE
STOP THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S INDIFFERENCE!
Open Letter to Emmanuel Macron
and the International Community of Funders
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I write to you, thousands—tens of thousands—of children, women, and men are dying in Syria, in a state of utter indifference.
The effects of 13 years of war, compounded by the devastating consequences of the February 6, 2023 earthquake, have left the country in complete desolation.
As a pediatrician by training, I have devoted my career to humanitarian work. Now engaged with the NGO Mehad, which has been present in Syria since the war began in 2011, I witness every day—along with my colleagues on the ground—the magnitude of the catastrophe unfolding before our eyes.
The humanitarian situation is the worst it has been since the war began. And this is YOUR responsibility.
16.7 million Syrians depend on humanitarian aid to survive. Among them, two-thirds are children. Yet, only 6% of humanitarian needs for 2024 have been met. Despite last year’s devastating earthquake, only 40% of needs had been covered even then.
Syrians Can No Longer Access Healthcare
By the end of this June, 160 healthcare facilities, including 46 hospitals, will be forced to cease operations due to a lack of funding.
Women are dying in excruciating pain while giving birth because they cannot receive proper medical care.
Life-saving emergency treatments are no longer available. Patients with chronic illnesses—diabetes, asthma, kidney failure—are left without access to essential medication.
Our NGO has not been spared by this crisis: several of our centers have had to shut down, including the Kafr Takharim Mother and Child Hospital. Others are in grave jeopardy.
Syrians Can No Longer Feed Themselves
The number of internally displaced people has increased by 90% in five years
Two million people, mostly women and children, are crammed into refugee camps under squalid and dangerous conditions.
In these camps, access to food is extremely limited. Due to international sanctions, prices in Syria have skyrocketed, making it nearly impossible for people to feed themselves adequately.
Currently, only 625,000 of the 3.6 million people suffering from severe food insecurity are receiving assistance to stave off famine.
Among pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as young children, the effects of malnutrition are immediate and devastating: blindness, developmental delays, physical disabilities—not to mention the alarming rise in infant mortality.
Syrians Are Dying from Your Neglect
Eighteen months after the earthquake, 13 years after the start of the war, I appeal to the President of the French Republic and the international community: in 2024, do not turn away from Syria.
Provide a humanitarian response that meets the needs and commit to implementing a negotiated political solution, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, the only option for a sustainable and secure future for Syrians.
For 13 years, millions of innocent civilians—men, women, and children—have endured the worst that humanity can face. Forgetting them is the harshest sentence of all.
