Urgent medical evacuations begin in besieged Eastern Ghouta region of Syria
29 critical patients to be transported in deal between government and rebel faction
Months of deadlock over medical evacuations from Syria's biggest remaining siege broke late on Tuesday when a deal between Damascus and a rebel faction allowed an aid agency to evacuate a handful of critically ill patients.
Four patients were brought out of Eastern Ghouta, where almost 400,000 people have been under siege by President Bashar al-Assad's forces since 2013, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said in a statement. The evacuees were taken to hospitals in Damascus.
The enclave, a densely populated pocket of satellite towns and farms, is the only major stronghold of anti-Assad forces near the capital Damascus. The military has steadily defeated pockets of armed rebellion in western Syria over the past year, with the help of Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias.
29 of the most critical cases
The Jaish al-Islam rebel group in Eastern Ghouta said it was releasing 29 detainees. In return, the government is allowing the evacuation of 29 of the most critical cases.
However, one person on the list, a six-month-old baby girl, died before she could be evacuated from the area, Dr. Mohamad Katoub, an advocacy manager for SAMS, wrote on Twitter.
"Now we have a list of 641 people who need to be treated outside of Ghouta," said Katoub, who is with the Syrian American Medical Society Association, which is helping to organize the evacuation.
Important news coming from Syria: people in urgent need have been evacuated from east <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ghouta?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ghouta</a> to safety and hospitals. Happy that our negotiations reached this important goal. This is a signal of hope for the future <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Syria</a> <a href="https://t.co/6nSqnyMqtN">https://t.co/6nSqnyMqtN</a>
—@FrancescoroccaIn an interview with CBC Radio's As It Happens, Katoub said the list was prepared two months ago when the number of people who needed medical evacuation was much smaller.
"We submitted this list two months ago to the UN, but the UN couldn't get the approval from the Syrian government," he said.
Katoub said 18 people on the list have died awaiting evacuation.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had facilitated the deal, which came two months after the United Nations asked Assad's government to allow the urgent evacuation of the 29 patients. The operation was still in an early phase, it said.
"Happy that our negotiations reached this important goal. This is a signal of hope for the future Syria," tweeted Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of the Red Cross.
Katr Alnada a 6 months baby was supposed to be evacuated today in the list of urgent 29 people. When local team reached her they found that she died weeks ago.<br>This is patient # 18 who died from 641 people who need medial evacuation out of besieged#Ghouta <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreakGhoutaSiege?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BreakGhoutaSiege</a>
—@MhdKatoubA Syrian government spokesperson, Ahmed Mounir, said a deal was struck for a number of sick people to leave Eastern Ghouta in return for the release of what he called kidnapped people. The number of people involved could increase, he said on television.
A Jaish al-Islam political official in Ghouta said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) mediated between Damascus and the rebels for the swap.
"We worked to get them out through the Red Crescent, and we are working on evacuating the rest of the nearly 500 cases out," said Yasser Delwan. But there was no indication of whether more evacuations would be allowed, he added.
The United Nations has pleaded for the government to allow medical evacuation of around 500 patients, including children with cancer, and has said there was no excuse for not permitting the evacuation to go ahead.
Although Eastern Ghouta is officially a "de-escalation zone" under Russian-led ceasefire deals for rebel territory, fighting there has continued. The population, including 130,000 children, is suffering the worst malnutrition seen in the almost seven-year war, the UN has said.
Residents and aid workers said the government has tightened the siege in recent months in what they called a deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war — a charge the government denies.
On Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was working with Russia, Assad's ally, on the evacuations. Ankara has backed some rebel factions in the Syrian war.
The UN has said. It has a priority list of 494 patients, while SAMS put the number of critical cases higher.
The remainder of the 29 patients included in the deal would be evacuated over the coming days, said SAMS, a non-profit that supports hospitals mostly in opposition areas.
"The list includes 18 children and four women suffering from heart disease, cancer, kidney failure and blood diseases, in addition to cases requiring advanced surgery that are not available in the besieged area," it said.