Moscow Ready to Consider All Steps to Evacuate People From Rukban - Lavrov

09:21 GMT, 7 April 2019

AMMAN (Sputnik) - Moscow is prepared to consider all measures to help dismantle Rukban camp for internally displaced people on the Syrian-Jordanian border but first of all calls on the United States to cease its illegal occupation of areas surrounding the camp, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

Sputnik

"We are ready to consider any steps to help evacuate refugees from Rukban, but I believe that the most effective solution [to the problem] would be the end of illegal occupation of that territory by the United States," Lavrov said during his joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi.

Russia, Syria Urge Amman to Allow Rukban Refugees Into Jordan Territory

7 March 2019, 08:42 GMT

Russia and Syria have repeatedly tried to draw the attention of the international community to the deplorable conditions in which an estimated 40,000 camp inhabitants live and to the United States' reluctance to allow people to leave the camp, which is located in the US-controlled Al-Tanf area.

In January, the World Health Organization described people residing in the camp as "trapped," adding that they live "in deplorable conditions." Limited water supply, bitterly cold weather and poorly functioning health care facilities contribute to the rise of diseases, which include influenza, measles, tuberculosis and chronic respiratory diseases, according to the organization.