“ There are snipers shooting at anyone

on the road, and landmines in the fields.

Checkpoints stop everything coming in

– food, medicine, fuel; everything needed

for life. They stop people leaving, even sick

children in need of medical help. Homes

and schools lie in ruins from bombing.

Children are starving and the markets are

empty. It’s the 21st century but here it’s

like hundreds of years ago. This is what it

means to live under siege.”

Syrian aid worker, January 2016