Country Syria Nahiyah Madaya Local time Friday 2:36 PM | District Al-Zabadani District Elevation 1,608 m | |
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Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate Weather 8°C, Wind SW at 19 km/h, 69% Humidity | ||
Madaya (Arabic: مضايا) is a small mountainous town in Syria, located at an altitude of around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). It is a well known holiday resort. It is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Damascus in the Rif Dimashq Governorate and is home to Lake Barada. Madaya often is snow-top during the winter months especially on January and February. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Madaya had a population of 9,371 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
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Map of Madaya, Syria
Syrian civil war
Since July 2015, the town has been besieged by a combination of Syrian forces loyal to the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the allied Lebanese militia Hezbollah. In December 2015, Doctors Without Borders reported that 23 people had died of starvation after a total blockade prevented any food or humanitarian aid to enter since 18 October. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed alarm at the situation in Madaya as well as in other besieged areas in Syria, and warned that the use of starvation as weapon during conflict is a war crime.
On 7 January 2016, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a statement calling for unimpeded access to deliver emergency assistance to Madaya, Al-Fu'ah and Kafriya. Amid calls from United Nations officials and dozens of humanitarian organizations to intervene, the United Nations negotiated a deal between the Syrian government and rebels holding the town to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid, which was carried out on 11 January 2016.