Syrian Boy With Meningitis Evacuated From Besieged Town

Yaman’s uncle, Yousif Jabir, who lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been appealing to local organizations for help. He said he was overcome with emotion at the news. “I am not able to express what I want to say from my heart and how much gratitude I have,” Jabir said. 

Yaman’s mother, Khawala Jabir, said Friday from Madaya that she only wished she could go with her son to Damascus. “But I am very thankful,” she said.

For Khawala Jabir and others in Madaya, a rural town on the outskirts of Damascus, starvation and a severe lack of medical and humanitarian aid are a part of daily life. 

An estimated 40,000 residents have been affected by food and medicine shortages in the town. The starvation and blockades persists despite multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at ensuring the delivery of aid to those in need, regardless of who controls the territory.

There are 4.5 million people who live in regions of Syria that are hard to reach for aid groups, 400,000 of whom live in besieged areas, according to the United Nations.