Couple from Syria’s Rukban camp killed for speaking out in favor of leaving

JLEB /Syria/, April 3. /TASS/. Militants loyal to US forces in Syria have killed a family couple in the Rukban camp for declaring their desire to return to the government-controlled territories, National Reconciliation Commission representative Ahmed Munir told TASS on Tuesday.

"Yesterday, a man and his wife were killed in the camp simply for saying: "Syria is our home and we want to return home." Those people were killed by militants, they are heroes who died for expressing their opinion. They are outlived by two children," the Syrian government official said during the second coordination conference on withdrawal of refugees and closure of the Rukban camp, held on Tuesday at the Jleb checkpoint.

Munir said although militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) were still hiding in the camp, the majority of its residents were ordinary people desperate to return to their homes.

"I know people who live in the camp, I communicate with them. They are ordinary people who want to leave. But there are also militants, terrorists of the ISIS [Islamic State’s former name], who trade in US dollars, engage in drug trafficking and smuggling, who even seize the UN humanitarian aid and then sell it to residents. This information is well-known, even the UN knows about it," he said.

The official reiterated that the Syrian government was ready to accommodate refugees from Rukban.

"Our country is ready for reconciliation and forgiveness, so here is my advice to you: make the decision, don’t yield to US pressure," he said.

Munir added that the humanitarian situation in the camp was appalling.

"Women are hungry, children are hungry, they have no warm clothes, children are not vaccinated, they don’t go to schools, they have nothing," he said. "Come back to your homes, come back to normal life."

The Rukban refugee camp emerged on the Syrian-Jordanian border in 2014 after Amman closed its border due to security and economic concerns. The area, which is controlled by illegal armed groups, is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.