Residents of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta lament hardships

EASTERN GHOUTA, Syria

Roughly 400,000 civilians living in Eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb blockaded by the Assad regime and its allies for the last five years, continue to live amid poverty, famine and extremely difficult living conditions.

Abu Suleiman, who has two disabled-daughters, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday about the hardships he and his family were experiencing, especially the chronic lack of food and medicine.

"My daughter was born with brain paralysis. Her situation is getting worse by the day as a result of famine and medicine shortages," Abu Suleiman said, referring to his seven-year-old daughter, Selma.

He added that his other daughter, Zeina, who requires treatment for a spinal deformity, was 14 years old, but looked much smaller as a result of malnutrition.

Currently, Suleiman earns his living by selling waste plastic that he collects in Eastern Ghouta.

"The situation in Eastern Ghouta is dire; worse than you can imagine. We can't find bread or water. A single loaf of bread costs 800 Syrian Liras (roughly 2$), so we can't afford it. I can’t provide anything for my children to eat today," he said.

"And I can't find medication for my daughter because the regime doesn't allow medicine through the checkpoints. I sold everything I had for my daughters -- the rest is up to Allah," he lamented.

Asserting the entire district was now wallowing in poverty, he added: "Our children have been abandoned in Eastern Ghouta; no organization cares about us."

Abu Jamil, a pediatrician in Eastern Ghouta, told Anadolu Agency that the blockade imposed by the Assad regime had made the lives of local people -- especially the disabled -- almost impossible.

"Children with paralysis need years of physical treatment; they need fresh milk, fruit and water," he said. “But in Eastern Ghouta, we don’t have any of these.”