Transitional government prevents hundreds of patients from reaching Damascus for treatment

Today, the transitional government in Syria closed the main road connecting the Autonomous Administration areas with the interior of Syria, which passes through the city of Tabqa toward Salamiyah in Hama countryside. The closure ignored urgent humanitarian and medical cases, which make up the majority of travelers, most of whom are cancer and chronic disease patients.

Halima Al-Ali, one of the patients, was scheduled to undergo a heart mesh implantation operation at a hospital in Damascus but was unable to reach the capital.

Speaking to the ANHA agency with deep sorrow, the citizen said her health condition is extremely poor. Despite enduring the hardship of the long journey due to her illness, the measures taken by the transitional government prevented her from receiving treatment. She called for the immediate reopening of the road so that she and other patients can access their medical care.

Khadija Al-Barhou, the mother of a child with cancer, was among those heading to Al-Bayrouni Hospital in Damascus for a chemotherapy session and tumor removal surgery. She confirmed that the security checkpoint of the transitional government’s forces blocked their passage, causing her daughter to lose her treatment opportunity.

With deep grief, the mother, Khadija Al-Barhou, said as she looked at her sick child: “My daughter has been waiting since 11 a.m. in vain,” asking, “Have they lost all sense of compassion? We call on the entire world to look at our situation and have mercy on our pain and suffering.”

For his part, Abbas Al-Alawi, one of the companions of the patients, explained that they departed from Qamishlo at dawn in fifty buses carrying about 1,100 people, mostly patients with serious illnesses and university students, and upon reaching Tabqa, they found the road completely closed.

Al-Alawi pointed out that transport offices in Damascus have halted all trips, while several passengers were stranded at the transitional government’s checkpoints without enough money to return. He asked in frustration, “What is the fault of these people and patients that the road is closed in their faces?”