In Syria, hundreds of thousands of civilians are being intentionally denied basic necessities such as food, water, and medicine as part of a cruel tactic of war. Long-term sieges of populated areas – some of which have been on going since 2012 – have had a devastating impact on the people trapped inside.

In SLOW DEATH: Life and Death in Syrian Communities Under Siege, SAMS utilizes its network of friends and medical professionals on the ground to present a detailed overview of life in the besieged areas, with a focus on the ongoing medical crisis. New information presented in the report indicates that the scale of the crisis of civilians under siege in Syria is far greater than current UN OCHA estimates suggest.

SAMS estimates that there are more than 640,200 people living under long-term siege in Syria, more than three times the current UN OCHA estimate of 212,000.