When No Place Is Safe: Sheltering Under Siege in Syria
" Hoda Khayti, 29, has lived in eastern Ghouta her whole life, and said her family, like most of their neighbors, had spent much of the week in a basement.
that How much cruelty will it take before the international community can speak with one voice to say enough dead children, enough wrecked families, enough violence, and take resolute, concerted action to bring this monstrous campaign of annihilation to an end?
The Unified Medical Office in Ghouta — a local aid group
that works in the area — said that those conditions could lead to health problems like "respiratory diseases, lice and scabies." Even before the current bombardment, a United Nations report indicated that in some neighborhoods, the shelters had already become a public health concern.
The Syrian government says that there are few civilians left in eastern Ghouta, and
that those who remain are being held as human shields — an assertion disputed by international human rights groups and activists on the ground.
Mr. Jad said that We feel our souls are leaving our bodies when the plane gets close, and we feel relieved after it goes away.
Eastern Ghouta is under a brutal aerial assault by Syrian government forces
that has left more than 200 people dead in recent days, including many children.
"The shelter makes the relationships deeper " Another group of local media activists
shared photos of a family huddled underground on Wednesday, baking bread in a stove.
Sonia Khush, the Syria director for Save the Children, is based in Amman, Jordan, but has been working with local groups in eastern Ghouta for years.
" Ms. Khush said. that The fact is that people are in these basements and shelters,
but it doesn’t even give them the mental comfort that they are going to be safe from these bombings,