PHOTO: A mother feeds her daughter in the besieged town of Madaya, January 2016
On Saturday, the social network Reddit hosted an Ask Me Anything session with a mother in Madaya, the town northwest of Syria’s capital Damascus where more than 60 people have reportedly died of starvation amid a six-month siege by the Syrian military.
The mother, whose identity was verified by the US outlet ABC News, spoke of conditions for the 40,000 residents of Madaya, including the continued threat to thousands despite three aid convoys being allowed into the town since January 11.
An edited transcript of the conversation:
What are the conditions like in Madaya today?
Not good. The prices on both diesel and firewood have gone up.
My husband has been looking for wood to buy because we ran out of wooden furniture. But now the price is US $9 for the 30 lbs we need to stay warm every day.
The price of diesel, which is what we used to use to warm the house, per litre is $8.10. On Monday, it was $2.88 per liter.
I’m so sorry you’re trapped. How do you keep your family sane and calm?
The reality is my children have forgotten what it means to be calm and comforted since this inhumane campaign was launched against our town. They are petrified by any little sound they hear.
Who is your town besieged by? Why can’t aid enter?
What I don’t understand is why we are still under siege. They say it’s because there are fighters in the town but all the fighters are either dead, have left or are in prison now. There are no more fighters. Why are we still under siege?
“I Feel Helpless”
What stories do you guys tell each other to make one another laugh and smile? I can’t imagine how important memories must be…
I feel helpless. My children are very affected by what they’re going through. My eldest has lost 30 lbs and my boy is afraid of leaving the house because of the fainting people and the children without shoes.
There isn’t much fun news that comes into town but my husband tries to tell the children stories of his childhood in an attempt to take their mind off of what they’re living.
Do you think Western countries should intervene in Syria with military action? If not, how do you think other countries should help?
We were hoping that the UN Security Council was going to agree on lifting the siege this week but I was devastated when I learned that they weren’t able to agree.
I was just asking if there was any news about the end of the siege or meetings that will bring a solution.
Ma’am, It is soon five years since the civil war in Syria started. Could you describe these years from your perspective? My thoughts and best wishes to you, your family and fellow people in Madaya.
This topic always brings out tears before words.
Three years ago I lost my father to a tragic accident. Four months and 10 days after that, we lost the one who had become like father to us, my eldest brother. He was killed in a car bomb.
I was pregnant at the time and thought I would miscarry I was so distressed.
Our tears barely dry from one wound and then another wound is inflicted.
This July, my youngest brother was killed. He had taken up arms when the siege was enforced but only in self defense, to protect the people of the town from the armed attacks we’ve been subjected to. The post he was guarding with his friends was shelled. His friends got hit. After he rescued the first one, when he got back to get his other friend, a sniper shot him dead.
“I Have Enough Left for 10 Days”
How did you obtain food before aid finally arrived? Do you find the aid rations you’ve recently received to be adequate? How do you feel about the international community’s response to the conflict in Syria?
There was very little food, which is why the last few days before the aid was allowed in, I completely stopped eating to give my share of the little food we had to my children. My husband did the same. He would plead with me to eat because the family needs me.
I’m thankful for the food we received. I am having to ration it into very small daily portions to make it last because we don’t know when we’re going to be able to get more food. Right now, I have enough left for 10 days. We heard there might be another aid convoy but it’s only a rumor right now.
What can we do to help?
International aid groups are not as effective as they could be, in my opinion as a mother who has lived through this suffering, because they were not able to deliver aid at the right time. They were very late and that led to many people starving to death including women and children.
Do you hope that your kids will be able to love and forgive when you make it out of this?
I worry about them being so traumatized that they won’t get over it.
I cannot shake this feeling of guilt, I feel it 24hrs a day….Maybe I should have left as soon as the crisis started, spared them this anguish, the shelling, the starvation, the death of their relatives….I didn’t know, I never expected the situation to become this dire, never could I have imagined it.
“Those Who Bring in Goods Are Collaborators With Regime”
What do you think of the claims that rebels are stealing food aid and re-selling it at blackmail prices? Are food prices so high because of the strained supply chain, or because someone is taking advantage for profit? Is this truth or propaganda?
To be very frank, those who are able to bring in basic goods are collaborators with the regime. They bring them in small, limited quantities and in high prices beyond belief and that is so that they steal people’s money and they are causing the current financial crisis we are living. They are not rebel fighters.
If there were rebels in the town, they would have made sure these smugglers wouldn’t continue doing what they do. We call these smugglers “human flesh eaters” and blood merchants.
I don’t personally recognize any of them, I don’t know them. They do their smuggling secretly….
Believe me when I say there are no more opposition gunmen in the town. Everyone who used to carry weapons have disappeared. And by the way, more than half of the young men left in the town have joined the government army because a decision was announced a month before the aid came in that anyone who enlists is able to leave the town with his family.
When you are out on the street, does the Syrian government military intermingle with you? What are those interactions like?
Government forces are not in the town. They are at the entrances of the town. If someone tries to go to them and requests to be allowed to leave town, they order him to go back into town. If the people refuse to go back in, they become agressive and have hurt people and those who attempt to sneak out of the town are either shot by snipers or they step on landmines.
What will you and other people in Madaya do if and when the siege is lifted? Do people there have somewhere else they can go?
Everyone only dreams of one thing now, and that is to leave Syria. And that is because of the suffering they have gone through and because everyone in Syria and in the international community has let them down. No one has championed us — they have left us alone, exposed to the fangs of oppressors as they tear away at our children’s flesh. Without anyone lifting a finger.
Is there sympathy for Daesh [the Islamic State] in Madaya, since they are also fighting al-Assad’s troops, or is there a fear of them along with the government soldiers?
We believe there were about 10 people recruited into what is called ISIS. We believe they receive money from people connected to the regime. These guys are unemployed rejects in the town and if they were really against the regime, they wouldn’t have stood by doing nothing while the regime besieges us.
“We Only Think About 1 Thing — When Will the Siege Be Lifted?”
I’m sorry to hear the pain in your story. What are your thoughts about the future?
Our outlook on the future is very limited. We only think about one thing and that is when will the siege be lifted are we going to live to see that moment or are we going to die in these dire circumstances. We used to, in the past, plan and dream and seek a future for our children. We used to discuss a bright future for our children but now all we say is “if the siege is lifted, we are going to do this,” or “if the siege is lifted, we are going to go there.” We no longer plan for the future.
There are many superpower nations in the world, do you think that if they wanted, they could end this crisis? Or even worse, are they helping to cause it?
I don’t believe that superpowers are not able to lift an unfair siege on a small town like ours. If they really can’t do that, then why do they call themselves superpowers.
Are there many non-locals, i.e. refugees, in the town? Or is it mainly the local population?
There are more than 10,000 refugees from other areas that have come to Madaya because before the siege, our area was safe.
If you decide to leave the town to government held area, who is one who will stop you, government, rebels or both?
The Syrian Army supported by Hezbollah are the ones not allowing people to leave the town.
