Delivery of aid to Rukban camp completed

B EIRUT» The United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on Wednesday completed a desperately needed aid delivery to displaced Syrians in a remote desert camp near the border with Jordan.

Fadwa Abed Rabbou Baroud, of the U.N. Office of the Resident Coordinator, said the delivery to the Rukban camp included a month’s worth of food, as well as medicine, clothes and vaccinations.

Nearly 50,000 people are stranded in the desert and had received no aid since January. Four people died recently because of malnutrition and extremely limited access to medical care.

The Syrian government and ally Russia have blamed U.S. troops stationed nearby for failing to provide security for aid shipments, allegations denied by the Americans. Jordan closed the border because of security concerns.

Also on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said Syrian President Bashar Assad has instructed the government to start taking measures for the return of civilians to the refugee camp of Yarmouk in the capital Damascus.

Yarmouk, the largest refugee camp and once a home to tens of thousands, suffered massive destruction during the seven-year conflict and hardly a building is not damaged in the sprawling camp south of Damascus. Until this year, large parts of it were controlled by the Islamic State militant group and by alQaeda-linked fighters.

Khaled Abdul-Majid, secretary of the follow-up committee of the Damascus-based allied Palestinian factions, told The Associated Press that the decision reflects the Syrian government’s commitment to support the Palestinian cause.

Abdul-Majid said he was informed of the decision on Monday, noting there were about 200,000 Palestinians in the camp before the crisis, in addition to 1 million Syrians who were settling in and around the camp.

He said the reconstruction process would be fulfilled by the Syrian government, the Palestinian Authority, other Palestinian groups and Palestinian businessmen.