BEIRUT: The United Nations said Friday it will help evacuate civilians from an “abysmal” Syrian desert camp near the border with Jordan, after a mission last week determined who wanted to leave.
“We are ready to facilitate” evacuations from the Rukban camp, said Panos Moumtzis, the UN’s Syria humanitarian chief.
“We want to make sure it happens in a voluntary way,” he told AFP during an interview in Beirut, describing the situation in the settlement as “abysmal.”
According to the UN official, around 12,700 people remain in the isolated Rukban camp near a base used by the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh group.
The Syrian government and key backer Russia said in February they had opened corridors out of the camp, calling on residents to leave.
More than half of the original population has left in the past months, the United Nations says.
The UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent sent a mission to the camp last week to determine how many people remained inside and who wanted to leave, the UN official said.
“A little bit more than a third of them want to leave,” Moumtzis said.
“The vast majority want to go into government-held areas and some others want to go to the north,” held by the opposition, he added.
But the UN is not able to provide protection guarantees after civilians quit the camp, he said.
Some 47 percent of surveyed camp residents said they wanted to stay, citing reasons including “security concerns” and “fear of detention.”
Rights groups have warned that civilians returning to government-held territory have faced detention and conscription.
Those fleeing to the rebel-held north might face violence in the Idlib region, where Russian and regime bombardment have killed more than 950 people since April.
Although Rukban has not received aid since February, the latest UN mission did not deliver any relief items beyond “a minimal number of health supplies,” Moumtzis said.
But last week’s visit is only the first part of a “two-step” plan — the second of which will involve aid delivery, according to the UN official.
“The next mission — I hope very quickly — will go back and deliver the desperately needed assistance,” he said, without providing a specific date.
Conditions inside Rukban are dire, with many surviving on just one simple meal a day, often bread and olive oil or yoghurt, according to one resident.
UN to ‘facilitate’ evacuations from Syria desert camp
UN to ‘facilitate’ evacuations from Syria desert camp
- UN officials are evacuating Syrian refugees from the Rubkan camp voluntarily
- The agency estimates that around 12,700 people live in the camp
First Ramadan after truce brings flicker of joy in devastated Gaza
- Ramadan lanterns and string lights appear on streets lined with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble in Gaza City
- The first holy month since the October ceasefire brings mixed feelings for the many still living in tents
GAZA CITY: Little Ramadan lanterns and string lights appeared on streets lined with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble in Gaza City, bringing joy and respite as Islam’s holiest month began — the first since October’s ceasefire.
In the Omari mosque, dozens of worshippers performed the first Ramadan morning prayer, fajr, bare feet on the carpet but donning heavy jackets to stave off the winter cold.
“Despite the occupation, the destruction of mosques and schools, and the demolition of our homes... we came in spite of these harsh conditions,” Abu Adam, a resident of Gaza City who came to pray, told AFP.
“Even last night, when the area was targeted, we remained determined to head to the mosque to worship God,” he said.
A security source in Gaza told AFP Wednesday that artillery shelling targeted the eastern parts of Gaza City that morning.
The source added that artillery shelling also targeted a refugee camp in central Gaza.
Israel does not allow international journalists to enter the Gaza Strip, preventing AFP and other news organizations from independently verifying casualty figures.
‘Stifled joy’
In Gaza’s south, tens of thousands of people still live in tents and makeshift shelters as they wait for the territory’s reconstruction after a US-brokered ceasefire took hold in October.
Nivin Ahmed, who lives in a tent in the area known as Al-Mawasi, told AFP this first Ramadan without war brought “mixed and varied feelings.”
“The joy is stifled. We miss people who were martyred, are still missing, detained, or even traveled,” she said.
“The Ramadan table used to be full of the most delicious dishes and bring together all our loved ones,” the 50-year-old said.
“Today, I can barely prepare a main dish and a side dish. Everything is expensive. I can’t invite anyone for Iftar or suhoor,” she said, referring to the meals eaten before and after the daily fast of Ramadan.
Despite the ceasefire, shortages remain in Gaza, whose battered economy and material damage have rendered most residents at least partly dependent on humanitarian aid for their basic needs.
But with all entries into the tiny territory under Israeli control, not enough goods are able to enter to bring prices down, according to the United Nations and aid groups.
‘Still special’
Maha Fathi, 37, was displaced from Gaza City and lives in a tent west of the city.
“Despite all the destruction and suffering in Gaza, Ramadan is still special,” she told AFP.
“People have begun to empathize with each other’s suffering again after everyone was preoccupied with themselves during the war.”
She said that her family and neighbors were able to share moments of joy as they prepared food for suhoor and set up Ramadan decorations.
“Everyone longs for the atmosphere of Ramadan. Seeing the decorations and the activity in the markets fills us with hope for a return to stability,” she added.
On the beach at central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, Palestinian artist Yazeed Abu Jarad contributed to the holiday spirit with his art.
In the sand near the Mediterranean Sea, he sculpted “Welcome Ramadan” in ornate Arabic calligraphy, under the curious eye of children from a nearby tent camp.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents were displaced at least once during the more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the latter’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
Mohammed Al-Madhoun, 43, also lives in a tent west of Gaza City, and hoped for brighter days ahead.
“I hope this is the last Ramadan we spend in tents. I feel helpless in front of my children when they ask me to buy lanterns and dream of an Iftar table with all their favorite foods.”
“We try to find joy despite everything,” he said, describing his first Ramadan night out with the neighbors, eating the pre-fast meal and praying.
“The children were as if they were on a picnic,” he said.
