Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in the Rukban camp in Syria.

The UK is extremely concerned about the dire humanitarian situation of the 40,000 – 50,000 displaced Syrians currently stranded at Rukban camp. Whilst we were encouraged by the recent aid convoy that took place in November 2018, it is crucial that this is not viewed as a one-off event. A recent UN assessment highlighted in particular the major health and protection concerns caused by the lack of sustained access provided to humanitarian actors.

The UK urges the Assad regime and its backers, in the strongest possible terms, to facilitate full humanitarian access to enable a second convoy with winter supplies to take place followed by regular and unrestricted aid deliveries thereafter.