Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
May 24, 2024
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) condemns the neglect by the United Nations and the international community of urgent appeals to rescue the residents in the Rukban refugee camp on the Syrian-Jordanian border. This neglect is particularly troubling as the Assad regime has imposed a tightened siege on the camp, leading to a sharp deterioration in the living and humanitarian situation of about 8,000 people due to the loss of food, water, medicine, and health care supplies.
The SOC calls on the United Nations, its humanitarian organizations, and the international anti-ISIS coalition present in the region to work towards finding an urgent, long-term mechanism to provide basic life necessities, respond to distress calls from the people in the camp, and secure food, medicine, and water permanently. The SOC insists that the Assad regime should not be allowed to besiege the camp and exacerbate the humanitarian tragedy.
The Assad regime still relies on siege and starvation as weapons of warfare, even though these actions are violations of international humanitarian law, human rights, and constitute crimes against humanity. These violations add to its record of crimes against Syrians since 2011, taking advantage of the international community’s mishandling of the Syrian crisis. This inaction has allowed the Assad regime to continue its crimes and obstruct any political solution, despite the international consensus in the Security Council on Resolution 2254 (2015), which aims to transition Syria from an era of suffering and crises to building a democratic state that provides justice, equality, and rights to all its citizens.