Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition, Bader Jamous, condemned the Assad regime’s imposition of blockade around the Rukban refugee camp near the Syrian-Jordanian border and its prevention of the introduction of food and medical supplies. At least 14 people, including four children, has died in recent weeks due to lack of medicine and healthcare in the camp.
The administration of the camp warned that food and medical supplies in the camp will completely run out in a matter of a week or a maximum of ten days should humanitarian access continues to be blocked.
Jamous said that the camp is home to tens of thousands of people who were forcibly displaced from their homes by the Assad regime forces. He added: “Those people chose to live in tents in the desert without any semblance of life only to preserve their dignity and to escape the brutality of the Assad regime.”
“The thugs of Assad and Russia, together with the international community which is complicit in this tragedy, are denying food and medicine to residents of the camp in order to force them to return to the lap of the murderous regime,” Jamous said.
Yazan Aliwi, Director of the only clinic in the camp, told Smart News Network that 14 people died due to lack of medical care in the camp, including four children, two women, three men, and five elderly people.
Head of the local council in the camp, Abu Ahmed Derbas al-Khalidi, said that the Assad regime demands that residents of the camp agree to forced settlement agreements and return to the areas under its control. He added that the United Nations “did not lift a finger” to relieve residents of the camp who are suffering increasing shortage of food, especially infant formula.
Nearly 65,000 people currently live in Al-Rukban refugee camp and suffer extremely dire living conditions. The UN Goodwill Ambassador to the Middle East has already appealed to international organizations to urgently respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the camp. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
