Returning 5 patients to the besieged Al-Ghouta under the pretext of “the end of their treatment period” and the regime forces and warplanes kill 198 citizens since the evacuation of the patients until the return of the first batch of them
Rif Dimashq Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that 5 patients were returned from the capital Damascus to the besieged Al-Ghouta, about 20 days after they were brought out to the capital to receive treatment due to the drop of their health condition, and in the details obtained by the Syrian Observatory; the Red Crescent which was a mediator in the deal of evacuating the patients and the abductees, has sent 5 patients back from hospitals in the capital Damascus to the besieged Al-Ghouta which has been shelled daily since the last evacuation on the 29th of December 2017, and the sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that they were returned after “the period of their treatment had finished”, and it is expected that other patients will be returned after “the period of their treatment finishes”.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored between the 27th of December 2017 and the 29th of the same month, that the Red Crescent accomplished the evacuation of the medical conditions and the abductees, from the besieged Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, and thus, the number agreed within the “sick and abductees” deal between the regime authorities and Jaysh Al-Islam has completed, the deal which included the release of 29 abductees who were arrested by Jaysh Al-Islam, in return for allowing 29 medical conditions to get out of the Eastern Ghouta to receive treatment in the capital Damascus, and it is unknown until now whether there is information about the release of others after accomplishing other steps of the deal, while the SOHR has documented since the implementation of the previous release and evacuation in December 2017, and until today the 16th of January 2018, the death of 198 citizens including 56 children and 39 citizen women, of who were killed since the 29th of December 2017 as a result of targeting the Eastern Ghouta by hundreds of raids and hundreds of artillery and rocket strikes, and the casualties are 128 citizens including 41 children, 31 citizen women and a male nurse, they were killed in raids by the warplanes on areas in Harasta city controlled by the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham and raids on Madyara town as well as the cities of Saqba, Hamuriya, Douma and Arbin, and 70 citizens including 15 children and 8 citizen women and 2 male nurses were killed by artillery and rocket shelling targeted areas in Beit Sawa town, the cities of Harasta, Hamuriya, Douma and Arbin as well as the towns of Kafr Batna, Mesraba, Al-Nashabiyah, Otaya and Mesraba.
It is noteworthy that the SOHR counted, through its activists, and with the help of medical sources in the Eastern Ghouta of Damascus, more than 720 medical cases including tens of children and citizen women, who need immediate evacuation, the evacuation which is ignored every time by the vehicles of the Red Crescent and the UN delegations accompany the humanitarian aid that enters the Eastern Ghouta, and leave without paying any attention as if they accomplished their mission perfectly, which provoked the patients and their families, and the medical sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the diseases are varied, in terms of their nature, level of progress, extent of distribution and the difficulty of being treated, as there are more than 500 patients have cancer, including more than 100 cases need immediate evacuation, due to the great drop of their conditions, also there are 59 cases, of who are believed to have cancer, are added to the 500 cases, in which the specialists of the center specialized in diagnosing and treating cancer in the Eastern Ghouta, failed to specify and diagnose their cases, due to the lack of necessary materials, and the stop of the laboratory for the same reasons, and there are more than 30 patients have the infecting tuberculosis, as well as the presence of about 25 cases of the kidney failure, and about 70 cases with varying diseases such as diabetes mellitus, immunodeficiency, thalassemia, and other diseases.