Situation In Rukban Camp To Be Resolved After US Withdraws From al-Tanf area in Syria – Moscow
Moscow has affirmed that the severe situation in the Rukban camp on the Syrian border with Jordan will be settled after the United States withdraws its occupation forces from southern Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
The camp is located in a 55-kilometer (34-mile) zone occupied by the US base in Al-Tanf area. According to the spokeswoman, about 50 people who fled from the camp in early May said that there was no food, no water, no electricity and lack of health care there.
Rukban residents are forced to pay militants, who are occupying the camp to get basic necessities. Sending the UN humanitarian convoy to the camp will not change the situation, as the militants will take possession of it. This has repeatedly happened before, the diplomat added.
” The Rukban issue will be solved after the withdrawal of US occupatiin forces from al-Tanf area in Syria.
For our part, together with the Syrians, we provide all the necessary assistance to the refugees who left the camp,” Zakharova said.
Syria and Russia have repeatedly stated that the situation in Rukban is close to a humanitarian disaster.
In late April, the UN also raised concerns over the humanitarian situation in the camp, which is currently facing a high level of food insecurity and lack of health care, especially after access to a UN-supported health clinic on the Jordanian side of the border was restricted.
ISIS terrorists take advantage of pandemic to escalate their operations
Moreover, the Russian diplomat said that ISIS terrorists took advantage of the pandemic to step up their operations in north-eastern Syria.
“We are registering a deterioration of the situation in the areas in north-eastern Syria outside the government’s control. Militants of ISIL [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the former name of the IS] decided to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. They intensified their incursions,” the diplomat said.
On May 10-15 alone, the terrorists launched over 20 attacks in which over 20 people were killed and about 40 wounded, Zakharova said.
“Also, we paid attention to the alarming report that seven ISIL militants had escaped from the prison at the al-Hol camp for internally displaced people. All these facts confirm once again that the United States and its allies, which are occupying the area across the Euphrates, do not care about civilians, security and other really important issues,” the Russian diplomat said.
Basma Qaddour