The United Nations has finished distribution of aid to thousands of Syrians, mostly women, and children, stranded in the desert close to the border with Jordan, an aid official said on Wednesday.
A UN-led convoy of more than 70 trucks arrived on Saturday under Russian army protection after months of delay in the first such first aid delivery from inside Syria to the rebel-held camp that has over 50,000 people.
In cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the convoy delivered food, health, and sanitation supplies, and other emergency items including 10,000 plastic sheets to protect people against the coming winter weather.
“The overall humanitarian situation in Rukban camp remains dire, with shortages of basic commodities, protection concerns, and the death of several children who reportedly were unable to get medical treatment,” Reuters quoted a UN official with the convoy, Fadwa AbedRabou Baroud, as saying.
The assistance would only provide short respite and without regular and uninterrupted access, the plight of desperate residents in harshest desert conditions would only further deteriorate as winter cold sets in, the UN official added.
The UN team will complete a vaccination campaign against measles, polio and other diseases to protect some 10,000 vulnerable children in the camp before it departs, Baroud said.
Previously, the UN has only been permitted to deliver aid sporadically from the Jordanian side of the border, with the last such distribution completed back in January.
UN agencies have also constructed a dedicated primary health facility just over the Jordanian border close to Rukban, but access remains an issue and the clinic is unable to provide advanced medical services to the many residents suffering from chronic illnesses and other serious conditions.
The US State Department welcomed the aid to the camp, located close to the Tanf US military base in the desert near where the borders of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq converge.
The camp is within a “deconfliction zone” set up by US forces. Damascus says US troops are occupying Syrian territory and providing a safe haven for rebels.
Washington said it hoped Moscow would continue to put pressure on the Syrian government to comply with UN resolutions on allowing humanitarian access across frontlines.
The camp was last month besieged on the Syrian side of the border by the Syrian army, preventing smugglers and traders from delivering food.
In the last three years, tens of thousands of people have fled to the camp from ISIS-held parts of Syria being targeted by Russian and US-led coalition air strikes.
