The humanitarian situation in Syria and in refugee camps in neighbouring countries continues to deteriorate.

April 23,2014 Speaking to Vatican Radio on Easter Monday, the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, Archbishop Mario Zenari said that, in the Yarmouk district of Damascus, a neighbourhood of some 18 thousand people, in which the Nunciature is located, and in many other places as well, there are numerous people already living in conditions of starvation, and many more near starvation. “This is something we cannot accept,” and something the international community cannot accept, he said. The Nuncio said “Aid is ready: It is there at the gates of these villages and neighbourhoods, and because of a lack of security, humanitarian agencies are unable to enter, the Apostolic Nuncio added.
Pope Francis has appealed repeatedly for an end to violence in Syria and a return to good-faith negotiations to find a permanent solution to the conflict .His most recent appeal came in his Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address, in which he prayed, “that all those suffering the effects of the conflict can receive needed humanitarian aid, and that neither side will again use deadly force, especially against the defenceless civil population, but instead boldly negotiate the long awaited and long overdue peace. peace long awaited and long overdue.”Source: CWN