Doctors in Madaya have reported that at least six teenagers and seven more young adults have attempted to kill themselves in recent months as the psychological effects of the siege on the Syrian rebel-held town take their toll.
Hundreds of people are suffering from mental illnesses, including depression and paranoia brought on or exacerbated by the desperate conditions, Save the Children said on Wednesday.
Madaya, just 40km away from Damascus, has been under siege by government and Hezbollah forces since July 2015. In January, reports that 65 people had died from hunger and malnutrition after being forced to eat insects and plants to survive led to the opening of much-needed food and aid corridors.
Since then, the surrounding forces have tightened their grip again, and no relief efforts have been allowed access to the town since April.
In addition to serious psychological problems affecting the town's residents, there are also reports of a serious meningitis outbreak. There is no specialised mental health care, and a lack of medicines and food supplies in the last four months have led to fears that conditions like last winter could soon set in again.
Rula, a local teacher, told Save the Children the long-term effects of the siege are “psychologically crushing” the children in her classes.
“When we do activities like singing with them, they don’t react at all, they don’t laugh like they would normally. They draw images of children being butchered in the war, or tanks, or the siege and lack of food.,” she said.
“We don’t need sympathy, we need help in this crisis.”
Rula's own children were evacuated for medical treatment last year. She was not allowed to accompany them, and since the siege began, has been unable to leave. The 15 -year-old boy and 12-year-old girl now live in Lebanon with an aunt. Samar, Rula's daughter, said she is scared of what could happen to her mother.
"Our mother told us that the situation was bad and that she was trying to leave with my father... I don't want anything bad to happen to her."
According to the UN, 5.4million people in Syria live in besieged or hard to reach areas, mainly in the towns of Madaya, Moadamiy, al-Waer, and East Aleppo. In August, humanitarian efforts were only able to reach around nine per cent of people in besieged zones designated as in need.
“The pressure of living under these conditions for years on end without respite is too much to bear, especially for children,” Sonia Khush, Syria Director for Save the Children, said in a statement.
“Madaya and other besieged areas have been forgotten once again, but this time the world must not wait for people to starve to death before acting.“
