Syria closes controversial Rukban refugee camp near Jordanian border

Syrian authorities have shut down a controversial refugee camp near the Jordanian border that has long faced criticism over dire conditions for its residents.

A spokesperson for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which coordinated activity related to Rukban camp, said all those previously hosted there had returned home and the camp is now “closed and empty”.

Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that the closure of the camp, established in the early years of the Syrian civil war in 2011, marked the end of "a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine". 

At its height, the camp hosted as many as 100,000 inhabitants. But over time, many left due to the poor conditions, returning either to government-held areas or other parts of Syria with the help of smugglers.

Numbers also dwindled after Jordan closed its border and stopped regular aid deliveries in 2016.

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With little to no aid coming in, residents lacked access to food staples, basic medical supplies and health infrastructure.

They were forced to live in makeshift dwellings without access to running water or basic sanitation, while the school system was all but nonexistent.

"Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," added Mustafa.

Armed groups led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew the government of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Since then, many Syrians living in exile or in camps have begun returning to their original homes, no longer fearing reprisals from Assad’s government.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says around 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since December.

However, the IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services" still poses a challenge for returnees.

middleeasteye.net