At least 2,000 people are forcibly held in the Er-Rukban refugee camp in Syria. This was announced on Wednesday, March 1, by the deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties (CPVS), Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov.
During the briefing, he mentioned the unfavorable situation in the US-occupied Al-Tanf zone, where the camp is located. According to Gurinov, the hostages are controlled by militants of illegal armed groups (IAF). At the same time, access to Rukban for humanitarian organizations is still closed, since there are no security guarantees.
Meanwhile, added the deputy head of the CPVS, during the day, three internally displaced persons, two women and a child, were organized through the Dzhleb checkpoint. One of the refugees was later hospitalized in a serious condition in a hospital in Damascus.
Earlier, on February 13, Major General Oleg Yegorov, deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria (CPVS), said that the lack of security guarantees complicates the work of humanitarian missions in some Syrian regions. Despite this, the Russian Federation continues to provide medical assistance to local residents, as well as deliver food packages and essentials.
Prior to that, on January 10, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the American command was recruiting Syrians from the Rukban camp to illegal armed formations and organizing combat training courses for them. Thus, according to available information, refugees aged 20 to 40 are recruited into the Jaish Suriya al-Hurr group.
The US military is in Syria without the permission of the country’s authorities and without UN sanctions. Damascus has repeatedly accused Washington of seizing oil fields. At the same time, former US President Donald Trump, in fact, called oil the main reason for the presence of the American military contingent in Syria.
The armed conflict in Syria has been going on since 2011. In 2017, the victory over the IS terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation in Syria and Iraq was announced. In certain regions of the country, sweeps from militants continue. Now the political settlement, the restoration of Syria and the return of refugees are in the foreground.
