"For us, we see the [humanitarian] access in Syria as extreme, complicated and it is not improving. There are many people inside Syria, whom we cannot help, and this is extremely dangerous and the situation is not improving for the moment," Meinie Nicolai said.
"Access overall remains very complicated," she said.
According to Nicolai, medical personnel in Syria face particular dangers.
"One of the problems that we see is that medical structures and medical personnel are attacked on several occasions, hospitals are being bombarded, doctors have been killed, so that is really a disaster, and it is very unsafe to be a medical worker today in Syria," she stressed.
"For us being a doctor of your enemy does not mean the doctor is the enemy. The medical work has to be respected everywhere that we work… And then we see that convoys that go in, medical and material, are often not allowed in, and that is another problem," she continued.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting both moderate opposition and terrorist groups. A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force across Syria on February 27, but it does not apply to terrorist organizations active in the country.
Humanitarian airdrops in Syria will not provide a real solution to the problem with lack of humanitarian access to those in need, the president of MSF Belgium said.
"Airdrops are complicated, they are not precise, they don't give a real response to the needs of the people. What we need is teams and material directly for those in need. Airdrops can be dangerous and are not a real solution to the problem we have, we understand that they are proposed as some kind of aid, but the best aid is real access, stop bombing hospitals, medical personnel, let medical supplies in and protect medical action. That is what is needed, and food of course," Meinie Nicolai said.
She stressed that the MSF has asked the Syrian government many times to provide them with humanitarian access, adding that the humanitarian situation in the country remains "terrible."
