SAVE THE CHILDREN STATEMENT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK, DOUMA, EASTERN GHOUTA

Sonia Khush, Syria Response Director, said: “We are horrified by reports of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma, Eastern Ghouta. While we can’t confirm what happened on Saturday night, it is clear that once again children have been killed and injured in indiscriminate attacks. Our partners report helping children who were choking, foaming at the mouth and convulsing in a chaotic situation.

“The children of Eastern Ghouta have already suffered through five years of siege and violence. They have been denied education, food, healthcare, and forced to sleep in basements for months on end to shelter from attacks. Now, as thousands of people flee their homes, those who have survived the bombardment face an uncertain future.

“We need the nationwide ceasefire that was agreed by the UN Security Council in February to be implemented immediately, and the UN and ICRC granted access to all areas of Eastern Ghouta, including Douma. Following months of intense fighting, displaced civilians and those who choose to remain in their homes need urgent humanitarian support.  International investigators must be allowed to enter Douma to investigate the alleged chemical attack – we cannot continue to allow the slaughter of children by all sides in Syria to continue with impunity.”

Save the Children welcomes Canada’s commitment to pursue accountability for atrocities committed inside Syria, and echoes Minister Freeland’s statement regarding the need for those responsible to be brought to justice, and the urgent need for an end to the massacre of civilians. Save the Children urges the Government of Canada to ensure the needs of children in particular are not forgotten in this crisis, either through Canada’s diplomatic efforts to help end the suffering and atrocities inside Syria, or its contributions to the wider humanitarian response in the region.

ENDS

Notes to the editor:

• Several of Save the Children’s partner organisations are still working in Eastern Ghouta, providing emergency relief supplies to the families that remain.
• In the last few weeks, our partners have gone door-to-door in basement shelters and distributed nearly 4,000 winter and hygiene kits, more than 700 cash grants to families and thousands of hot meals.
• It is unclear what the future holds for aid workers who have been working in Eastern Ghouta – many have had to evacuate with their families.
• Save the Children is now scaling up its response for the tens of thousands of people who have fled the area, particularly in Idlib.
• Teams in the north-west are distributing new arrival kits, cash grants and ready to eat rations to almost 40,000 people, alongside our existing work in the area running schools, clinics, livelihood projects and a maternity hospital. They seeking funds to support programming beyond the emergency relief phase, including family tracing and reunification, and mental health and psychosocial support for children who have evacuated from Eastern Ghouta.