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Syrian Refugees in Border Camp Face Humanitarian Crisis

Edward Yeranian

   CAIRO - As conditions deteriorate inside the Rukban Syrian refugee
   camp, close to the border with Jordan, thousands of people appear to be
   fleeing to government-controlled areas to avoid brutal desert heat and
   starvation.

   Food supplies are critically low, and drinking water is scarce. The
   last United Nations food aid was reportedly delivered in February.

   Syrian government TV showed a convoy of green government buses and
   dozens of agricultural vehicles heading toward the Jlaighem checkpoint
   in the city of Homs. Russian media claim over 17,000 Syrians have fled
   the camp for government-held territory. VOA could not independently
   confirm the report.

   Rukban is sandwiched between Jordan, which has refused to allow the
   refugees to enter the country, and Syrian government-held territory
   that many have fled for political reasons. Jordan doesn't want refugees
   due to overcrowding at the camps it runs and fear that a percentage of
   the camp's residents are affiliated with terrorist groups. Jordan
   closed its border to Syrian refugees in 2014.

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