Humanitarian aid arrives to Madaya, Syria

Humanitarian aid arrives to Madaya, Syria
Humanitarian aid arrives to Madaya, Syria

Humanitarian aid arrives to Madaya, Syria

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On Monday, the besieged Syrian town of Madaya received its first shipment of aid since October. Trucks brought in food and blankets and much needed relief for a population on the verge of starvation. Additional supplies are expected to arrive this week. The town is controlled by rebel forces but surrounded by regime forces, which has made it difficult to get relief into the area. The aid is expected to last a month. According to Oxfam, almost 400,000 Syrians are in besieged areas and 4.5 million Syrians are in hard-to-reach areas so what has happened in Madaya is likely to happen in other parts of the country. We’ll discuss the situation in Madaya and other areas in the region with Shannon Scribner, humanitarian policy manager for Oxfam America. PHOTO: In this Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 photo, a young boy waits to be evacuated from the besieged town of Madaya, northwest of Damascus, Syria. Aid convoys reached three besieged villages on Monday — Madaya, near Damascus, where U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said about 400 people need to be evacuated immediately to receive life-saving treatment for medical conditions, malnourishment and starvation, and the Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya in northern Syria. Reports of starvation and images of emaciated children have raised global concerns and underscored the urgency for new peace talks that the U.N. is hoping to host in Geneva on Jan. 25. (AP Photo)