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Conflict in Syria

Moscow, Damascus say $27 mln needed to aid major refugee camp in Syria

Moscow and Damascus also urged Washington to take urgent steps to ensure refugees’ unrestricted exit from the camp

© AP Photo/Hussein Malla

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. More than $27 mln is required to provide assistance to residents of Syria’s al-Hawl refugee camp, the Russian and Syrian Joint Coordination Committees on Repatriation of Syrian Refugees said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"According to the United Nations, $27 mln is required to provide emergency assistance to residents of the al-Hawl refugee camp and another $10 mln to maintain its operation until the end of this year," reads the statement signed by Head of the Russian National Defense Management Center Mikhail Mezentsev and Syrian Local Administration Minister Hussein Makhlouf.

CONFLICT IN SYRIA

Currently, there are more than 73,000 people in the camp, over 90% of them are women and children. They are facing severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. In addition, there is a serious lack of medical staff. According to the statement, "infectious diseases are spreading in the camp due to the impossibility of maintaining basic personal hygiene."

Russia and Syria also emphasized the need to build a pontoon bridge across the Euphrates near the city of al-Bukamal to deliver humanitarian aid to the camp. "We call on the US <…> to assist in increasing the volume of humanitarian aid delivery to the camp, for which it is necessary to build a pontoon bridge across the Euphrates in the al-Bukamal area as soon as possible," the Russian-Syrian statement reads.

Moscow and Damascus also urged Washington to take urgent steps to ensure refugees’ unrestricted exit from the camp.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier said at the Moscow Conference on International Security that the area of Syria’s al-Hawl refugee camp had almost doubled in size over the past year.

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