Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Rukban Camp in the Tanf zone of Syria; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Lord Bates’ statement on 16 October to the House of Lords expressed the UK’s increasing concern regarding the estimated 50,000 people currently stranded at the Rukban camp. A recent UN mission revealed rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation, with access to those at the Rukban Berm extremely constrained. To date, the UN has not been granted sustained access by the Assad regime.
The UK urges all parties to ensure unconditional and sustained humanitarian access that will enable regular aid deliveries to take place. We continue to call on all parties to ensure that the approved humanitarian convoy from Damascus to Rukban takes place, providing the assistance these people badly need.