Jordanian troops near the al-Rukban camp, By: aljazeera.com
Russia, Jordan and the U.S. may hold a trilateral meeting soon to discuss the fate of the al-Rukban camp, which is located in the US-occupied 55km zone in southeastern Syria, Jordan’s Foreign Minister revealed on April 18.
“There is a joint dialogue between Jordan, Russia and the U.S. on the al-Rukban camp, we already met once before, and we are planning to hold a similar trilateral meeting on this issue soon,” Ayman Safadi said in an interview with the Russian Izvestia newspaper.
More than 60,000 Syrians are currently trapped inside the camp near the al-Tanaf garrison, which is hosting around 200 U.S. service members. The trapped civilians have no access to much needed humanitarian aid.
Earlier this year, Syrian and Russia forces established several humanitarian routes to help evacuate the civilians from the camp. The US-led coalition prevented any civilians from leaving, up until this month.
According to a recent report by Syrian radio station, Sham FM, only 4,000 civilians have been evacuated from the camp so far. The leaders of the camp’s local community are reportedly facilitating the evacuation process.
Despite being an ally of the U.S, Jordan is supporting a plan to dismantle the al-Rukban camp and allow the refugees to return to their towns and villages. The plan, which was first suggested by Russia last year, is the sole logical solution to put an end to the humanitarian tragedy that is taking place in the camp.
