The Humanitarian File
Part I
Siege as a Tool of War
Siege has been one of the most significant methods utilized by the belligerent parties in Syria over the past eight years. It has been adopted as a systematic policy by multiple parties without taking into consideration the plight of the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in areas that have been plagued by siege.
This report sheds light on the views of the population in the following nine Syrian provinces: Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, Hassakeh, Idlib, Homs, Daraa, Quneitra, Suweida, and Damascus countryside. This information was attained by conducting 304 community consultation sessions between October 2017 and May 2018. A total of 3,376 people participated in these sessions, 46.6% (1,580) of whom were women. The number of participants representing civil society organizations (CSOs) numbered 705.
From the consultations, the report concluded the following:
- The humanitarian crisis affecting all of Syria has led many Syrians to believe that they are living in a permanent state of siege, due to the lack of access to basic necessities and requirements of
- The various parties to the conflict are still imposing conditions on the entry of humanitarian aid and relief materials into the areas under their control, thereby hampering access to critical humanitarian assistance.
- The population’s basic needs in most areas are food and medicine, in addition to sources of livelihood, whether in the form of agricultural projects or others.
- CSOs play an important role in delivering humanitarian assistance in most areas. Some participants said that their roles are still limited given the increasing need for their services.
- The Rome Statute defines as a war crime, “…intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions,” (Article 8, section b, item xxv). The siege conditions under which Syrians have lived in many parts of the country amount to such crimes of war.