Emergency medical evacuations begin in Syria's Eastern Ghouta

Medical evacuations in a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus has begun, the Red Cross has said.
Almost 30 critical cases, including children with cancer have been approved for help in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, where 400,000 people remained trapped under government siege.

The United Nations has pleaded to President Bashar al-Assad to allow evacuation of around 500 patients, including sick children.

Today in besieged #EastGhouta, #Syria, medical evacuations began for a group of 29 critical cases, approved for medical evacuation to Damascus. Four patients were evacuated today, w/remainder being evacuated over the coming days. Details to follow. pic.twitter.com/Y2kDqIbkD5

— SAMS (@sams_usa) December 26, 2017

The UN has been waiting for months for the Syrian authorities to provide “facilitation letters” to allow the aid operation to get under way.

Last week, a UK charity said that the Syrian president has been considering a request to evacuate seven children from the area, which has been under government siege for four years.

"We understand Assad is thinking about it. And we're calling him back on Tuesday morning to speak to him direct," said Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, an adviser to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM) charity.

"And if he gives us the go-ahead then the plan is that we will get to Ghouta as quickly as we can, get the children."

#Photos : @syredcrescent volunteers together with @ICRC just started to transfer cases in need of medical care from east #Ghouta to hospitals in #Damascus after long negotiations supported by Sarc President and @federation president pic.twitter.com/MTLCGElrfS

— Syrian Red Crescent (@SYRedCrescent) December 26, 2017

They are among more than 130 children needing urgent medical treatment there, as nearly 12% of children in Eastern Ghouta are suffering from acute malnutrition, the UN has said.

The Syrian American Medical Society (Sams) said four patients were taken to hospitals in Damascus, the first of 29 critical cases approved for medical evacuation, and the remainder would be evacuated over the coming days.

In a tweet, Sams said that that "critical" patients were being moved out of the Eastern Ghouta into the capital.

On Tuesday evening, the International Committee of the Red Cross published pictures of ambulances brought in to carry out the evacuations.

Tonight the @SYRedCrescent with @ICRC team started the evacuation of critical medical cases from #EasternGhouta to #Damascus. #Syria pic.twitter.com/Xqoy9HF7oz

— ICRC Syria (@ICRC_sy) December 26, 2017

The Syrian government has not publicly commented on the latest developments.