Rukban Camp
Thousands of Syrians stranded on Jordan's border with Syria are running out of food as routes leading to their camp are closed by the Syrian army and Jordan is blocking aid deliveries, relief workers and refugees said on Thursday.
The Syrian army has tightened its siege of the camp, in Rukban, near the northeastern Jordanian border with Syria and Iraq, preventing smugglers and traders from delivering food to its 50,000 inhabitants, mostly women and children.
"More than a week ago the Syrian regime cut all the routes of supplies towards the camp. There are now only very small amounts of food that smugglers bring," Abu Abdullah, the head of the civil affairs council that runs the camp said.
"The camp is a balloon that could explode at any moment because of hunger, sickness and lack of aid ... if the situation continues like this there will be real starvation," he added by phone.
Rukban is located near a U.S. garrison in southeastern Syria at Tanf on the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Jordan has since the start of the year blocked any aid deliveries to the camp over its frontier and says now that the Syrian government had recovered territory around the camp, it could not be made responsible for delivering aid.
The demilitarized zone in Syria’s Idlib has been formed and all heavy weapons have been withdrawn, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.In a written, the ministry said Turkey has realized its responsibilities as a guarantor country of the recently signed Sochi agreement."Our activities in Idlib as part of the agreement are continuing without slowing down in order to secure sustainable and permanent peace," the statement added.The agreement dictated that heavy weapons, tanks, rocket systems and mortars of all opposition groups would be withdrawn by Oct. 10, and the zone will be monitored by coordinated Turkish and Russian patrols.Following a meeting in Sochi last month between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries agreed to establish the Idlib demilitarized zone.Ankara and Moscow also signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing renewed fighting.Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.Lavrov says Idlib demilitarization 'progressing well'Syrian opposition’s arms removal proves trust in TurkeyAllies deliberately sabotaged Turkey's safe zones proposal: ErdoğanSyrian opposition completes withdrawal of heavy weapons from Idlib frontline
Turkey says demilitarized zone in Syria’s Idlib formed, heavy weapons withdrawn
Russia's top diplomat on Wednesday said Turkey's efforts to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib were "progressing well" as an October 15 deadline draws near for the completion of the task. "The deadline for demilitarized zones to be fully functional expires on October 15. A day or two do not play any role, in any case, the quality of these works is more important", Sergey Lavrov told reporters in a news conference in the capital Moscow following his meeting with the Andorran counterpart Maria Ubach.He said Turkey played the main role in the creation of the demilitarized zone, adding: "The process is progressing quite well."Following a meeting in Sochi last month between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries agreed to establish the Idlib demilitarized zone.Syrian opposition’s arms removal proves trust in TurkeyAnkara and Moscow also signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing renewed fighting.Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.Allies deliberately sabotaged Turkey's safe zones proposal: Erdoğan Netanyahu visitLavrov also confirmed that the Russian administration and Israeli government officials were working to set a date for an expected visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Russia.Commenting on Israel's intention to declare sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Lavrov said that the legal status of the area has been defined by the UN Security Council resolutions."To change the status means to violate directly the Security Council resolutions," he said.
Lavrov says Idlib demilitarization 'progressing well'
Lives at Risk
With Damascus intransigent, U.N. aid agencies have been pressing Jordan to let in urgent deliveries to stave off more deaths, aid workers and diplomatic sources said.
The U.N. children's agency UNICEF warned on Thursday that without "critical action" by parties to the conflict to "allow and facilitate access" the lives of thousands of children in the camp were at risk.
"The situation for the estimated 45,000 people - among them many children - will further worsen with the cold winter months fast approaching, especially when temperatures dip below freezing point in the harsh desert conditions," Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director for Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
Already two more infants died in the last 48 hours, Cappelaere added. Relief workers inside the camp say a woman also died this week.
Jordan wants the United Nations and Russia to put pressure on Damascus to give the written authorizations needed to allow supplies into Rukban from Syrian government-held territory.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said recently that his country, already burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, could not be made responsible for delivering aid to the camp.