The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Syria: fears of a ‘bloodbath’ as shelling nears terrified, traumatised displacement camps
Around a million civilians in northwest Syria could face “a real bloodbath, a real massacre” amid an ongoing push by Government forces in the country’s last opposition-held region, a senior UN humanitarian warned on Monday.
“The fighting is now coming dangerously close to the area where more than a million are living in tents and makeshift shelters, so it’s an extremely alarming situation, because if airstrikes move and shelling move any further into that area, we are no doubt going to see a real bloodbath, a real massacre of civilians in that area,” said Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis.
Speaking in Geneva, Mr. Cutts told journalists that as people have fled violence, seeking shelter close to the country’s border with Turkey, “the bombs have just been following them from place to place. And these people feel abandoned by the entire world. They are dumbfounded that no-one seems to be coming to their rescue.”
He added: “What people are asking for at the moment is not just tents and blankets and food, they’re calling for the killing of civilians to stop. They want the fighting to stop, the carnage to stop.”
The violence – which has seen more than 900,000 civilians displaced in northwest Syria since 1 December, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - has been marked by continuing attacks on public infrastructure and built-up areas which are protected under international law.
To date, more than 70 health facilities have been put “out of service” in the affected zone, Mr. Cutts said, citing reports of medical staff in a paediatric hospital “at a loss for what to do” with some 80 infants being cared for in incubators who need evacuating, but have nowhere to go.
“Huge numbers of hospitals and schools and marketplaces and bakeries and water stations have been hit by airstrikes and shelling in the past few months, and there’s a population now that is terrorised and traumatised and living in fear,” he said.
Help is reaching the affected communities via cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey, but much more assistance is needed, Mr. Cutts explained, as he announced an upscaled Emergency Response Plan appeal for $500 million for 1.1 million people.
“In January, we had 1,200 trucks of aid go in; in February so far, we’ve already had more than 700 trucks of aid go in. So the aid is flowing, there is a big aid operation. But the reality is, it’s simply not enough.”
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot: Press briefing room, journalists, podium with speakers and UN logo.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “The fighting is now coming dangerously close to the area where more than a million are living in tents and makeshift shelters, so it’s an extremely alarming situation, because if airstrikes move and shelling move any further into that area, we are no doubt going to see a real bloodbath, a real massacre of civilians in that area.”
- Medium shot: journalists looking at laptop, conferring.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “People have been fleeing in fear to the border area and what we’ve seen is the bombs have just been following them from place to place. And these people feel abandoned by the entire world. They are dumbfounded that no-one seems to be coming to their rescue.”
- Medium shot, journalist typing on mobile phone.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “Huge numbers of hospitals and schools and marketplaces and bakeries and water stations have been hit by airstrikes and shelling in the past few months, and there’s a population now that is terrorised and traumatised and living in fear.”
- Medium shot: journalist looking at mobile phone.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “What people are asking for at the moment is not just tents and blankets and food, they’re calling for the killing of civilians to stop. They want the fighting to stop, the carnage to stop.”
- Medium shot: journalist checking phone, seated in front of laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “In January, we had 1,200 trucks of aid go in; in February so far, we’ve already had more than 700 trucks of aid go in. So the aid is flowing, there is a big aid operation. But the reality is, it’s simply not enough.”
- Wide shot: journalists, seated, semi-profile.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis: “Today, we are launching a revised Emergency Response Plan. Where we are appealing for $500 million for 1.1 million people, so we’d like to revise those figures upwards.”
- Medium shot: journalist looking at laptop.
- Wide shot: podium, speakers, UN logo, mural.
- Wide shot: Press room, journalists, seated.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.