25,000 displaced Syrians live in dire conditions in SE Syria camp: UN

NEW YORK, July 11 (Bernama) -- Humanitarian workers are concerned about a camp in southeast Syria where an estimated 25,000 displaced people are living in "dire conditions," Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a United Nations (UN) spokesman on Wednesday.

"Our humanitarian colleagues are concerned about conditions in Rukban in southeastern Syria along the border with Jordan, where an estimated 25,000 displaced people continue to live in dire conditions," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Haq said the refugees have limited or no access to health care, basic food and other humanitarian assistance.

More than 16,000 people have left Rukban since March, he said. That was nearly 40 per cent of the estimated total population of 41,700.

"People leaving Rukban receive basic assistance at temporary collective shelters in Homs, before proceeding to their areas of choice, mostly towards southern and eastern Homs," Haq said.

The United Nations has been granted access to the Homs shelters on three occasions and found conditions there to be adequate during the visits, the spokesman said.

"The UN is currently awaiting approval from the government of Syria on an operational plan submitted last week to assess needs inside Rukban, to assist with transport for people who wish to leave, and to provide humanitarian relief for those who decide to remain," Haq said.

The United Nations continues to call for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to Rukban, as well as to all those in need throughout Syria, he added.

-- BERNAMA