Syrian Activists Call for Helping Refugees at Rukban Camp

 A photo circulated by activists on the social media of  Al-Rukban camp.
A photo circulated by activists on the social media of Al-Rukban camp.
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Syrian Activists Call for Helping Refugees at Rukban Camp

 A photo circulated by activists on the social media of  Al-Rukban camp.
A photo circulated by activists on the social media of Al-Rukban camp.

Syrian humanitarian bodies and activists appealed Wednesday to the UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office in Amman, the Jordanian government and international relief organizations to urgently move to deliver drinking water to Al-Rukban camp, located on the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi borders.

The “Save Al-Rukban Camp” hashtag went viral on social media amid the poor conditions of thousands of camp residents.

Also, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) condemned the increasing pressure on the camp’s residents to push them toward the Syrian regime’s territory.

In a statement, SNHR called on the international community to move to save their lives, including returning the drinking water supply to the previous level and continuing to deliver it.

Al-Rukban camp hosts 7,500 residents suffering from reduced drinking water to almost half. The water was coming across the Jordanian borders and was supported by UNICEF.

SNHR said the situation will worsen as the heat increases in July and August to levels that threaten the lives of the camp residents, especially women and children.

Also, a number of Syrian figures urged Jordanian King Abdullah II to intervene and support the camp’s residents after the situation there became life-threatening.

“Over the past few years, we witnessed many residents being forced to exit the camp towards the Syrian regime territory, despite the possibility of suffering great violations, including arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, torture, and forced recruitment,” the Network said, adding that it documented many violations of that kind against returnees.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”