Yemeni PLC Stresses Implementing Economic, Security Priorities

President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi (Reuters)
President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi (Reuters)
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Yemeni PLC Stresses Implementing Economic, Security Priorities

President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi (Reuters)
President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi (Reuters)

President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad Al-Alimi, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr holiday, stressed the need to address pressing economic and security priorities.

Al-Alimi pointed out that joint committees have been formed with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to implement pledges made in all fields.

The PLC chairman’s statements were made at a meeting with his deputies.

Al-Alimi called for “intensifying efforts to implement urgent priorities in all economic, security and humanitarian fields.”

He also briefed the Yemeni Cabinet on the results of his successful visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the amount of support Yemen received from the leaderships of the two countries.

The PLC head explained that the visit he made with his deputies to Saudi Arabia and the UAE “culminated in an agreement to immediately form joint committees, to follow up on the implementation of commitments in the fields of electricity, energy, health, roads, water and dams, as well as in the security and military aspects.”

He stressed that the support allocated to the Yemeni Central Bank is “under actual implementation.” Al-Alimi’s remark comes in reference to the two-billion-dollar deposit provided by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

In a statement he addressed to the people on Eid Al-Fitr, Al-Alimi pointed to the great responsibility placed on the PLC.

“Since the PLC was sworn in before the House of Representatives and the Shura Council in Aden, it immediately began holding its meetings,” said Al-Alimi.

“Our awareness of the accumulated challenges that burdened the Yemenis puts us before our responsibility, which accepts nothing but success, and we are determined to work hard in everything that serves our Yemeni people, from Mahra to Saada,” he added.

Al-Alimi reiterated the PLC’s and government’s commitment to provide support, attention and care to the temporary capital, Aden.



Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday.

The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Desperate people fleeing ISIS extremists and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighboring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.

After an opposition offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organization, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close".

"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," he added.

At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.

Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al-Saleh said on X said the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people".

"We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad.

The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.