Aid workers in Aleppo fear their fate under Syria regime

Aid workers in Aleppo have made urgent calls for international support to transport 100,000 civilians trapped in the city to safety.

In a letter signed by the Syria Civil Defence, also knows as the White Helmets, Independent Doctors Association and the Syrian American Medical Society, the medical aid workers called on the international community for safe passage.

“We know that the UN has a plan to get us out…to safety: with a few dozen buses and lorries we could all be evacuated in 24 hours. However, we need you to guarantee safety,” the statement said.

Regime forces seized much of Aleppo yesterday and trapped thousands of people within a very small area around two square kilometres in area.

Besieged civilians, and a number of organisations and activists have described their last moments in the city and accused the Syrian regime of committing atrocities.

In their plea to the international community, the White Helmets feared for their lives if they remained trapped without international assistance.

“The women may be taken to camps, the men disappeared and anyone who is known to have supported civilians will face detention or execution,” the White Helmets said.

“We’ve watched thousands of our boys and men detained. Countless White Helmet doctors, nurses and humanitarian workers have been targeted and killed in the regime’s cruel assault on Aleppo.”

They expressed complete dejection in their final statement commenting: “We cannot believe that the world’s most powerful countries cannot get 100,000 souls four kilometres to relative safety.