Noor and Alaa, two young girls in East Ghouta, Syria, who have been documenting the bombardment of the region by Syrian forces, appeared in a pointed video message on March 7 aimed at the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley.
The message came amid continued bombardment of the rebel-controlled area east of Damascus.
Noor, the older of the two girls, speaking in English and apparently reading a prepared message, addresses the ambassador directly: “Dear Ambassador Nikki Haley, we are children of besieged Ghouta.” Surrounded by other children and an adult in a wheelchair, she goes on to say they they have been forced to live underground due to continued bombing.
“You are the only ones who can help us. Please save us and these children of Ghouta before it’s too late,” she says.
Although the message is clearly staged, the girls’ family has been consistently posting content from the Ain Terma area near Jobar, East Damascus, and were directly affected by airstrikes in late February.
East Ghouta has been the sight of intense bombardment by Syrian government forces intent on recapturing the area from rebels. The strikes have had a disproportionate impact on civilians.
On March 7, the UN reported more than 100 deaths in a single day, March 5, and called for humanitarian access to the area after a convoy on that date was unable to “complete the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to 27,500 people in Douma”, a town in the area. Some 400,000 people in East Ghouta have been affected by shortages in “food, fuel, medicines and drinking water,” they said. Credit: Noor And Alaa via Storyful
