US Intentionally Delaying Efforts To Disband Syria's Rukban Camp - Russian Military

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2019) The United States, under various pretexts, continues to delay the evacuation of refugees from the Rukban camp in Syria, Yuri Borenkov, head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides, said on Thursday.

"The American side is constantly dragging the issue of evacuating refugees. Another pretext ... was the alleged lack of information at the UN about the status of temporary accommodation centers [where the refugees are planned to be evacuated]," Borenkov said in Moscow at a joint coordination meeting of Russian and Syrian agencies on the return of refugees.

The Rukban camp is located near the Syrian border with Jordan in the vicinity of the US military base in At Tanf, unofficially called the "55 kilometer area." The harsh desert environment requires a consistent flow of aid to the internally displaced refugees in order to avoid food and water shortages, a task often not fulfilled. Furthermore, the Russian military warns that the residents of the camp are constantly terrorized by heavily armed, US-backed, anti-government militants known as Maghaweir Thowra.

Syrian and Russian officials have pushed for disbanding the camp and returning refugees to urban areas of Syria, but US forces in the region, according to Borenkov, have been slow-walking the task.

Borenkov went on to say that, nevertheless, 18,000 civilians were evacuated from the camp thanks to joint efforts from Russia and Syria.�