Syrian authorities announce closure of notorious desert camp
DAMASCUS: A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday. The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the IS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.
Desperate people fleeing IS gunmen and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan. Former Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighbouring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.
After an offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home. The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organisation, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".
Syrian Information Minister Hamza al Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close". "Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added.
At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. The numbers dwindled with time, especially after Jordan sealed off its side of the border and stopped regular aid deliveries in 2016. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.
Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al Saleh said on X the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people". "We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added. According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad. The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.
Syria's interim President Ahmed al Sharaa on Friday visited the southern city of Daraa, the cradle of the country's uprising, for the first time since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al Assad almost six months ago. State news agency SANA published footage showing a cheering crowd greeting Al Sharaa, who was seen waving and shaking hands with people during the visit, which came on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha. — AFP
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