Syria's government on Thursday (February 28th) called on thousands of displaced Syrians stranded near their country's southern border with Jordan to return to their homes, as the UN appealed for protection guarantees.
Nearly 50,000 Syrians are living in squalid conditions in al-Rukban, an isolated desert camp located near the al-Tanf base, AFP reported.
The Syrian government and regime-ally Russia said on February 19th that they have opened corridors from al-Rukban, calling on residents to leave the settlement.
Damascus renewed the call on Thursday, SANA state news agency said, citing an unnamed foreign ministry source.
"Out of concern for the interest of its citizens, Syria renews its call to our people in the al-Rukban camp to leave this settlement and return to their cities and villages," the source said.
"The Syrian government will do everything it can to facilitate the transfer of these citizens from the camp to their place of residence," he added.
No civilians are believed to have left al-Rukban in the two weeks since Russia and Syria announced the opening of corridors, Panos Moumtzis, the UN regional co-ordinator for Syria said.
The official said the UN is not involved in the opening of the corridors but noted that most Syrians are seeking protection guarantees before deciding to leave.
"Most of the people from al-Rukban, more than 95%, want to leave and most of them actually want to go back to government-held areas," Moumtzis said.
"But they have expressed concerns on issues related to protection... basically they want to know that they will be safe," he added.
