SYRIA: US MUST PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THOUSANDS STRANDED IN HORRIFYING CONDITIONS IN RUKBAN CAMP

The already dire humanitarian situation at the camp has deteriorated sharply in recent months after the Syrian government tightened the siege it has imposed on the territory around the camp since 2015, setting up checkpoints that have blocked informal smuggling routes that the camp’s residents relied on for essential supplies. The last UN humanitarian convoy allowed into the camp by the Syrian government was nearly five years ago in September 2019

The United States (US) should urgently provide humanitarian aid to at least 8,000 displaced Syrians stranded in the besieged, isolated Rukban camp under US de facto control on Syria’s border with Jordan and Iraq without access to sufficient food, clean water or healthcare, Amnesty International said today.

The already dire humanitarian situation at the camp has deteriorated sharply in recent months after the Syrian government tightened the siege it has imposed on the territory around the camp since 2015, setting up checkpoints that have blocked informal smuggling routes that the camp’s residents relied on for essential supplies. The last UN humanitarian convoy allowed into the camp by the Syrian government was nearly five years ago in September 2019.  

The US military operates a base near Rukban camp and has de facto effective control over the 55km territory on which the base and the camp are located. As such and in light of other governments’ human rights failures, the US government has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that residents of the camp have access to essential supplies.

“It is unfathomable that thousands of people, including children, are stranded in an arid wasteland struggling to survive without access to life-saving necessities. The residents of Rukban are victims of a brutal Syrian government siege, they have been barred from safe refuge or faced unlawful deportations at the hands of the Jordanian authorities and been met with apparent nonchalance by the US,” said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

An estimated 80,000 people lived in Rukban before Jordan sealed its border to the area in 2016. That number has dwindled to 8,000 today as most left due to the dire conditions. Despite the serious risks facing them in Syrian government controlled areas, including being labelled “terrorists” and being subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and other human rights violations for expressing opposition to the Syrian government, tens of thousands have had no option but to take this risk. Today, Jordan continues to unlawfully deport Syrians to Rukban despite the camp’s unliveable conditions, while the US makes little visible effort to improve the desperate conditions despite its ability to do so.

“The Syrian government must immediately lift its siege on the area and allow humanitarian aid deliveries to reach residents of the camp. In addition, given that the US has de facto effective control over the territory on which the camp is located, it should fulfil its human rights obligations and ensure that the camp’s residents have access to food, water and essential healthcare. Meanwhile, the international community must work towards sustainable solutions for the camp’s residents, such as the re-opening of the border with Jordan or safe passage to other areas in Syria where individuals would not face human rights violations,” said Aya Majzoub.

‘Tragic situation: ‘Our children are dying’

Amnesty International conducted interviews with a total of nine residents, including four members of the camp’s political council, a community-led initiative. All residents said they struggled to obtain food and clean water, which are extremely scarce. The little food and water available in the camp is being sold at exorbitant prices that are unaffordable for most. For many years, residents managed to get some supplies into the camp through smuggling routes, but the Syrian authorities have now blocked even these routes without providing an alternative for access to critical assistance.

“Our children are dying. Yesterday, a baby died of malnutrition. He was just 21 days old. A month ago, two other newborn babies died,” Mohammad Derbas Al-Khalidi, a member of the political council, told Amnesty International.

In the face of relentless suffering the US can and must do more to address the devastating humanitarian crisis at Rukban.

Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International

“I am very tired financially, morally and everything else. I cannot get a loaf of bread for my children during the day,” said Ruqaya, a camp resident.

The camp’s residents live in very basic clay houses that fail to protect them against insects or the extreme desert weather.

“In winter, the weather is dry and very cold. We have nylon bags and a newspaper to keep warm in our house. We can’t buy diesel,” said Nidal, a member of the political council.

Healthcare in ruins

The camp lacks adequate medical facilities and has no doctors. Instead, residents rely on a medical centre staffed with a few nurses whose salaries are paid by the US. The nurses are not qualified to perform surgery.

“There are people who went to government-controlled areas for treatment and did not return. The last person to leave here is Fahd Muhammad Al-Harawi, 30 years old – he is married and has three children… A month ago, he was arrested in Homs and disappeared,” Nidal said.

In the last few months two pregnant women needed caesarean sections and their babies died, the camp’s media office director told Amnesty international. He added that in May, at least 500 children were suffering from jaundice.

Amnesty International spoke to a former nurse in the camp who said:

“There have also been cases of chickenpox and measles with high fever, especially among children, and medications for fever are very rarely found in the camp. We don’t have paracetamol [pain reliever and fever reducer] and we need it a lot. The camp also lacks baby formula. Infants are being fed with [goat] milk that is not suitable for them.”

Security in exchange for food

Most of the camp’s residents fled to the area around 10 years ago to escape violence inflicted by the Syrian and Russian forces and their affiliated militias, as well as the Islamic State. Many were part of Syria’s opposition movement or had defected from the Syrian security forces.

I am very tired financially, morally and everything else. I cannot get a loaf of bread for my children during the day.

Ruqaya, a camp resident

Amnesty International has documented how over between 2017 and 2021, Syrian authorities specifically targeted returnees from Rukban and subjected many to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment. Mohammad Derbas al-Khalidi, a member of the political council at Rukban, recounted how individuals who went to government-controlled areas continue to be arrested, forcibly conscripted by Syrian government forces or are prevented from returning to their villages.

Another member of the political council said camp residents were reluctant to leave Rukban because it is safe from Syrian government forces and affiliated militias due to the control that the US military exercises over the area.

He told Amnesty International: “Now they are paying the price. The security that exists is in exchange for food.”

Jordan unlawfully deports people to Rukban, regardless

According to Mohammad al-Fadil,a member of the political council, Jordan continues to deport an estimated 100-150 Syrians to Rukban camp every year. He estimated that over 1,400 Syrians in Jordanian prisons are under deportation orders and risk being transferred to Rukban Camp. 

Amnesty international spoke with two Syrians who had been deported to Rukban in April 2024.

“They [Jordanian authorities] closed my eyes, tied my hands and feet and took me to Al-Rukban camp. What did we do to deserve this? They hit my eyes and head. You didn’t want us in Jordan, fine, but there is something called compassion, mercy. I am a human being like you,” said one of the men who described how Jordanian authorities deported him to Rukban after he argued with Jordanian men who were beating his children. He said that he was deported to Rukban with nine other Syrian men in 2024.

“I have five children in Jordan. I only want to live like any other human being. Where will I go? If I go to Syria, my life is at risk. In the Rukban camp, we will die of hunger. We are forbidden from returning to Jordan. People think about committing suicide.”

Amnesty International previously documented the Jordanian authorities’ deportation of at least 16 Syrian refugees, including children aged between four and 14, to Rukban on 10 August 2020.

Forcibly returning refugees to a place where they are at risk of serious human rights violations or abuses violates the principle of non-refoulement under international law. The Jordanian government must abide by its international obligations to protect refugees, and refrain from forcing Syrians back to their country.

The US’s human rights obligations

Since 2016, the US military has operated the Tanf military base, around 16km away from Rukban, and has been in de facto effective control of the land where the camp and military base are located. In a 2019 article, Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria, stated that the US has maintained control over this area and repelled other forces trying to enter it, including in May 2017, when US aircrafts attacked a convoy of Syrian and Iranian forces that had approached Tanf.

Despite this, the US has appeared to shirk its full responsibilities towards the residents of Rukban camp, and its interventions have been minimal. The US military base employs around 500 men from Rukban camp. It has provided sporadic assistance to the camp’s residents, including a bread oven, flour and fuel, as well as medical care in exceptionally rare situations, according to the camp’s residents, but has not ensured regular assistance to address critical needs.

The US has the capability to do much more including delivering life-saving assistance. US military planes regularly fly into the nearby Tanf base, bringing in supplies and personnel.

In 2023 and 2024, the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) airlifted aid into the camp using space available on US military cargo planes flying to and from the Tanf base. SETF staff on the ground then transported the aid from the Tanf base to Rukban camp. Such operations demonstrate that the US is not only in control of the territory but also has the means to provide humanitarian aid.

“In the face of relentless suffering the US can and must do more to address the devastating humanitarian crisis at Rukban. It has a responsibility to fulfil the rights of Rukban’s residents to basic necessities like food, water and healthcare,” said Aya Majzoub.