Red Cross chief will request Assad's help with Syria's humanitarian crisis
The Red Cross head is traveling to Syria to request that President Bashar al-Assad make it easier for humanitarian workers to reach civilians facing deteriorating living conditions.
Swiss Peter Maurer, right, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, speaks at a panel discussion during the World Humanitarian Day, in Geneva, Switzerland in August. Maurer visits Syria this week.
AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi
Geneva
The new head of the聽聽will urge Syrian President聽聽to improve humanitarian access to civilians in the war-torn country during a visit to聽聽that begins on Monday, the aid agency said.
聽said he would also continue efforts to gain access for his agency to聽's detention centers 鈥� which rights groups say hold tens of thousands of people rounded up during the 17-month-old conflict, including teenagers.
"At a time when more and more civilians are being exposed to extreme violence, it is of the utmost importance that we and the Syrian聽聽succeed in significantly scaling up our humanitarian response," he said in a statement.
"An adequate humanitarian response is required to keep pace with needs, which have been growing exponentially," added Maurer, who took over as president of the independent organization from聽聽on July 1.
罢丑别听聽(ICRC) has 50 foreign and Syrian aid workers in聽, but all have been confined to聽聽since late July due to heavy fighting in what it has said has become an internal armed conflict, or civil war in layman's terms.
The agency was not able to send out any aid convoys for more than two weeks, but did manage late last week to send some food rations and other relief supplies to rural聽听补苍诲听聽for distribution by the Syrian聽, the ICRC said.
Maurer, a former senior Swiss diplomat, will meet Assad and senior officials in聽聽during the three-day trip, the statement said.
"Talks will mainly tackle the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and the difficulties faced by the ICRC and the Syrian聽聽as they attempt to reach people affected by the armed conflict," it said.
Living conditions worsening
Syrian civilians' living conditions are worsening dramatically, as it becomes harder to obtain food and escape fighting which caused a record death toll of 1,600 last week, aid agencies said on Friday.
Tens of thousands have been forced to flee fighting in recent weeks and increasing numbers of wounded are dying for lack of medical care or supplies, the ICRC said.
A car bomb exploded in a district on the edge of the capital聽聽on Monday, causing casualties including women and children, state media and opposition campaigners said.
About 1.2 million people have been displaced in聽聽during the conflict and a further 230,000 refugees have fled to four neighbouring countries, the聽听蝉补测蝉.
The ICRC and Syrian聽聽have distributed relief items to more than 800,000 people this year, most of them displaced and staying in temporary shelters including schools, and ensured that more than one million people have enough clean water, the ICRC said.
Maurer, whose meetings are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, is also due to meet Foreign Minister聽, Interior Minister General聽, Health Minister Saad Abdel Salam Al-Nayef, and the Minister of State for National Reconciliation, Ali Haidar.
聽opened its prisons for the first time almost exactly a year ago under a deal secured by Kellenberger on the first of his three trips there.
ICRC officials visited聽聽central prison last September but their access quickly stalled amid disagreement over the ICRC's standard requirements, which include the right to interview prisoners in private and make follow-up visits.
After Kellenberger won fresh agreement from Syrian authorities in April, ICRC officials visited inmates at Aleppo central prison in May, but there has been no access since.