The United Nations is prepared to immediately send a humanitarian convoy to the al-Rukban camp in Syria's Homs province once safe conditions for its passage can be ensured, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said on Monday, just days after a planned aid delivery was delayed due for security reasons.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2018) The United Nations is prepared to immediately send a humanitarian convoy to the al-Rukban camp in Syria's Homs province once safe conditions for its passage can be ensured, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said on Monday, just days after a planned aid delivery was delayed due for security reasons."The UN is ready and willing to proceed with the convoy immediately," Lowcock said. "Please, make the necessary arrangements to ensure the security of the humanitarian personnel and the accompanying convoy so it can proceed without delay."
Lowcock said reports of insecurity along the planned delivery route had forced the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to postpone plans to deliver the aid on Saturday.
UN, humanitarian workers along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, had planned to deliver aid to some 50,000 people, begin a vaccination campaign for around 10,000 children and conduct a rapid needs assessment during their visit to the camp, Lowcock said.
The Rukban refugee camp, which now hosts about 50,000-60,000 people, is located in Syria's At Tanf district (Homs province) near the Jordanian border, next to a US military base where Syrian opposition forces are being trained. Moscow and Damascus, on one side, and Washington on the other accuse each other of hindering the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to the area.
Late in September, Jordan's foreign minister told Sputnik that Amman and Moscow are engaged in serious discussions related to the dismantling of the Rukban camp and safe return of its residents to their homes in Syria.
