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06Mar19

Russian, Syrian coordination centers urge US to release refugees from Rukban camp

Russian and Syrian coordination centers have urged the United States to set free the forcibly held residents of Rukban camp and allow them to return to their homes, Major General Viktor Kupchishin, chief of the Russian center for reconciliation of conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Wednesday.

"On March 6, the interdepartmental coordination centers of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic came forward with a joint statement, which urges the US to switch from populism to practical steps, which are to release illegally held residents of the Rukban camp and to ensure their right to leave freely for permanent residence places and to guarantee a safe passage of humanitarian motor convoys through illegally seized area of Al-Tanf," he said.

The Rukban camp is located inside the Al-Tanf security zone, which is home to the US military base. Militants from opposition groups block access to that area.

The Syrian government was said to guarantee security and to provide a simplified procedure of re-issuing IDs for refugees from the camp. A humanitarian corridor through the Djleb checkpoint, where bus convoys had been sent to, has begun operating to ensure temporarily displaced persons' voluntary and unhampered return from Al-Tanf to their permanent residence places.

Nonetheless, according to the general, in spite of these measures, the US force continue blocking the refugees' exit from Rukban camp, deny access to buses for refugees' evacuation and refuse to ensure security for humanitarian convoys within the 55-kilometer zone around their base in Al-Tanf.

The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill the tasks assigned to them after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. They regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on aiding the refugees who are returning to their homes and evacuating civilians from the war-torn country's de-escalation zones.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 06Mar19]
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