January 16th was a global day of action against the starvation sieges being perpetrated in Syria by the Assad regime. Rallies and protests were held around the world to demand action from the international community.
In Britain, rallies were held in Manchester, Oxford, and London by Syrian and British activists to demand action from the British government to break the sieges.
A petition calling for the British government to air drop food to besieged towns has now received over 57,000 signatures.
Madaya, the focus of most international media attention, has now received two aid convoys, but without the lifting of the siege, this food aid will only last some weeks and people will be reduced to starvation once again.
And the aid convoys to Madaya provide no relief to the over one million Syrians trapped in the other 51 sieges across Syria. An estimated four hundred thousands are at immediate risk of starvation and malnutrition. But these sieges haven’t received the same media attention as Madaya.
In Deir Ezzour, 200,000 civilians are trapped in civilian areas between the Assad regime and ISIS front lines. Over 200,000 civilians are surrounded in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, to which no aid has been delivered since 2013.
The total suffering under sieges is as many as a million people.
Syrian community groups are calling on the British government to begin air drops of food and medical aid to besieged areas in order to provide some immediate relief to civilians, and to pressure the Assad regime to lift the starvation sieges.
Solidarity with Madaya in London.
Trafalgar Square, London.
Drop food not bombs protest, London.
Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester.
#break_hunger_siege protest, Manchester.
Food not bombs demonstration in Oxford.
Solidarity with Madaya in Oxford.