ICRC

One Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer was killed and three others were injured while on duty on yesterday.

Mohammed al-Khadraa was a first-aid responder working in the city of Douma, near Damascus. He was shot and killed in a vehicle clearly marked with the red crescent emblem. 

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the ICRC condemn the lack of respect for life-saving medical services in Syria.

"We are saddened and extremely shocked by the death of Mohammed al-Khadraa," said Dr Abdul Rahman al-Attar, the president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. "This is the third fatal incident involving the Red Crescent in less than eight months." 

The aim of the Red Crescent and the Red Cross is to bring life-saving assistance to those in need on a fully impartial and neutral basis. This humanitarian work must be respected by all and at all times. 

Syrian families have sought refuge in Lebanon since violence broke out in their home country last March. There has been a sharp increase of arrivals in recent days, with many families fleeing Homs now arriving in the Bekaa valley, in Lebanon's northwest.

The Lebanese government has responded to the influx of Syrian refugees by mandating its High Relief Commission to assist families in the country's north. However, the commission does not have the mandate to operate in the Bekaa. There, incoming refugees are mostly left to the care of host communities. ICRC Lebanon is now supporting about 350 refugee families and their host communities in the Bekaa and stands ready to expend its action if more Syrian familiesdecide to cross the border.

As head of ICRC operations for the Near and Middle East, Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo has been actively involved in humanitarian negotiations with Syrian authorities and opposition groups to bring aid to Homs and evacuate the wounded and sick out of the Baba Amr district.

Here, Ms. Mégevand-Roggo provides an update of the humanitarian situation in Baba Amr and explains the challenges faced by the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) as teams in the field continue to seek access to victims of the violence.