MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Russia is seriously worried over the refusal of the militants-controlled administration of Syria’s Rukban refugee to let UN buses into its territory to evacuate those willing to leave the camp, Major General Alexei Bakin, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Friday.
"Of serious concern is the situation in the Rukban refugee camp located on the US-occupied al-Tanf zone. The so-called camp’s administration, which is controlled by illegal armed groups, issued a statement denying access to the camp’s territory for United Nations buses to evacuate internally displaced people who want to leave Rukban. Bearing in mind the fact that the camp’s dwellers have no possibility to leave the territory without consent from the command of illegal armed groups, we consider this statement as yet another signal evidencing that militants want to use al-Rukban refugees as a human shield," he said.
"Once again, we call on the American command in the al-Tanf zone to exert influence on armed groups it controls and help evacuate refugees by United Nations structures," he noted.
The Rukban refugee camp was set up in the US-occupied al-Tanf security zone at the Syrian-Jordanian border in 2014 after Jordan closed its border for security reasons. The humanitarian situation in the camp is nearly catastrophic as the adjacent area is controlled by illegal armed groups.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.