Vice-president of the Syrian Coalition, Abdul Basit Hamou, said that the Assad regime’s delaying of the sending of aid convoys to Al-Rukban refugee camp will put the lives of more civilians at risk, stressing that this delay is a blatant violation of human rights and classified as war crimes.
In a special statement on Thursday, Hamou described the reports coming from Al-Rukban refugee camp as “horrifying and shocking” as he called on the United Nations to take urgent action to deliver humanitarian and medical aid to the people trapped in the camp.
Hamou pointed out that the Assad regime adopts this tactic in a flagrant attempt to force the people to submit to its conditions through siege and starvation. He added that the Assad regime has pursued this tactic in utter disregard for the UN Security Council resolutions. He attributed this to the UN’s failure to put an end to the crimes of the regime from the very beginning.
The situation in Al-Rukban refugee camp is rapidly deteriorating, especially with the presence of tens of thousands of displaced persons and thousands of disabilities, including 1,460 women, 1,621 men and 4273 children, according to the management of the camp.
Hamou called on the international relief organizations to save the children as they are “the most vulnerable.” He said: “They are waiting for someone to save them from the starvation being carried out by the Assad regime against them and their families.”
Hamou also called on the international community to “act urgently” and ratchet up pressure on the Assad regime to end the blockade on the camp and allow unfettered access for aid convoys. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
