UN envoy flies to Syria to discuss Yarmuk camp crisis

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday dispatched an envoy to Damascus for talks on the humanitarian crisis in the Yarmuk refugee camp, where starving refugees are trapped in fighting.

UN deputy envoy for Syria, Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, was en route for Damascus while other UN officials were "in close conversations" with the Syrian government, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Ban on Thursday issued a strong appeal for action to prevent a "massacre" in the camp after it was overrun by Islamic State fighters on April 1.

About 18,000 people, mostly Palestinians, are trapped in fighting between IS jihadists, government forces and other rebel groups.

"What is unfolding in Yarmuk is unacceptable," Ban said ahead of a trip to Qatar where he is due to discuss the crisis.

"We simply cannot stand by and watch a massacre unfold."