MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. The US is fully responsible for the refugees and other civilians who live in Syria’s areas occupied by US troops, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his annual news conference on Wednesday.
In this regard, he pointed to the humanitarian situation in the Al-Tanf security zone, unilaterally created by the US, where the Rukban refugee camp is located. "As an occupying power active in this part of Syria, the US is fully responsible for civilians living there," the Russian top diplomat noted.
According to him, access to the Rukban camp is actually closed at the moment. "A humanitarian convoy arranged with our support and with the Syrian government’s consent a few weeks ago, entered the zone but in spite of assurances the US had given to us, Syrian Arab Red Crescent workers were not allowed to meet with refugees," Lavrov went on to say. "Militants, including those linked to terrorists, took control of the convoy - they live freely in the Al-Tanf zone and receive financial and other kinds of support. No one knows for sure what happened to those humanitarian goods, whether refugees eventually received them as had been planned or it was militants that took the goods," he added.
"Now, when our colleagues from the United Nations call for sending another convoy there - and the situation is truly dire, 30,000 to 50,000 refugees are locked up there and there is no access to them - we and the Syrian government insist that complete security and transparency be ensured and measures be taken that will make it possible to make sure that goods reach the refugees instead of being handed over to militants," Lavrov stressed. "After all, US troops deployed to the Al-Tanf zone receive supplies from Iraq, so if it is possible to deliver food and other goods for US troops, then I think it won’t be difficult to do the same for refugees, using the same routs," he added.