MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Washington’s destructive actions are impeding efforts to dismantle the Rukban refugee camp in Syria, head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said at a joint meeting of the Russian and Syrian coordination centers for the return of refugees on Wednesday.
Moreover, the operation to dismantle the camp is on the verge of collapse because of provocations staged by US-controlled militants, Mikhail Mizintsev claimed.
According to him, the implementation of the operation plan to take refugees out of the Rukban camp required the US to oblige the armed criminal gangs it controls to ensure security of the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent bus cordons in the 55-km wide al-Tanf zone, as well as to allow their access to the camp territory to evacuate Syrians.
"Fulfilling its part of the obligations, the Syrian government supported the UN initiative to deliver humanitarian cargo to the camp in hope that it will alleviate suffering of Syrians getting ready to return to their homelands. However, the provocations staged by the US controlled militants put the operation to evacuate the Rukban residents on the verge of collapse. In addition, a significant part of the humanitarian aid ended up in the gangs’ hands," Mizintsev underlined.
He pointed out that the leaders of the criminal groups operating in the al-Tanf zone refused to guarantee security for the UN and Red Crescent representatives.
"It seems that the US side agreed to implement the operation plan to dismantle the Rukban camp only to provide humanitarian aid to the militants it controls. At the same time, the UN and the World Health Organization assessments suggest that the situation in the camp will only deteriorate further as the cold season approaches," he underscored.
According to Mizintsev, everything is ready today to bring back and resettle refugees from overseas and internally displaced people from camps situated on territories occupied by the US.
"The need to hold today’s meeting became evident amid the United States’ destructive unilateral actions that are impeding the implementation of a plan to dismantle the Rukban refugee camp, which is aimed at saving civilian lives in cooperation with the United Nations," Mizintsev stated.
According to him, Russia, Syria, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have done a lot to help the remaining residents of the Rukban camp return to their homes.
"In order to restore civilian life in the country as soon as possible, efforts are being made to step up work to reconstruct infrastructure and public facilities. A total of 33,663 public facilities and 14,427 industrial facilities have so far been reconstructed and put into operation in various Syrian regions," the Russian general specified.
Mizintsev also noted that the large number of refugees returning to the country proved the efficiency of the measures that the Syrian government was taking.
"Since September 30, 2015, over 1,937,000 Syrians, including more than 1,304,000 internally displaced persons and over 633,000 refugees returning from abroad, have come back to their homes," the head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center emphasized.
Rukban camp
The Rukban refugee camp emerged on the Syrian-Jordanian border in 2014 after Amman had closed the border due to security and economic concerns. The area, controlled by illegal armed gangs, is torn by a severe humanitarian crisis. Refugees are expected to leave the camp in September.