Syria: no access to Baba Amr

March 03. 2012) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARC) were not allowed to enter the Baba Amr district of Homs, Syria, Friday. On 1 March, the Syrian authorities had authorized the joint team to enter Baba Amr, to respond to the humanitarian needs of the people there. The ICRC and SARC teams have been in Homs since this morning, waiting to enter Baba Amr. "It is unacceptable that people who have been in need of emergency assistance for weeks have still not received any help," said ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger. "We are staying in Homs tonight in the hope of entering Baba Amr in the very near future. In addition, many families have fled Baba Amr, and we will help them as soon as we possibly can." "We reiterate the appeal we made several days ago, for a daily two-hour halt in the fighting to allow humanitarian assistance," added Mr Kellenberger. "The humanitarian situation was very serious then and it is worse now."