Starved Syrians flee Damascus suburb

A BBC report has told of thousands of civilians fleeing a suburb of the Syrian capital which has been under siege by government forces for months.

(BBC)

The Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh was sealed off by Syrian troops for nine months, with no food or medical supplies allowed across the border.

Children died of starvation as desperate citizens sent out messages begging for help from the outside world.

Eventually, pressure from aid agencies forced the government to allow citizens to leave. Since then, thousands of Syrians have fled the besieged town, some too weak to walk after their long ordeal.

However, there’s no mercy for those left behind, with the Syrian government labelling them as enemies. Syrian Minister for Social Affairs Kinda Al Shammat told the BBC

“Those people are not our responsibility. They are terrorists.”