MOSCOW. Sept 18 (Interfax) - The closure of the Rukban refugee camp in Syria will begin on September 27, according to Col. Leonid Antonik from the Russian interagency coordination staff.
"The service desk of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria has just provided us with an updated plan of the evacuation of remaining Rukban residents submitted by UN Chief Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Corinne Fleischer. The process is due to begin on September 27," Antonik said at an emergency meeting of Russian and Syrian interagency staffs, which addressed the closure of the Rukban camp on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, National Defense Control Center head Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said at the meeting that the closure of the Rukban refugee camp was on the verge of failure because of provocations staged by U.S.-backed militants.
"Everything is ready to bring refugees back from foreign countries and to move internally-displaced persons from camps located in U.S.-held areas of Syria," Mizintsev said.
According to the Rukban closure plan, the United States was supposed to compel U.S.-backed armed units to ensure security of buses of the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) within the 55-kilometer at-Tanf area, and to organize their access to the camp for evacuation purposes, he said.
"The Syrian government held up its end of the deal and backed the UN initiative of humanitarian supplies to the camp for mitigating the suffering of Syrians who are preparing to leave for their home cities. Yet provocations staged by U.S.-backed militants jeopardized the evacuation of Rukban. Militants additionally seized a substantial part of the humanitarian supplies," Mizintsev said.
Leaders of the armed units operating in the at-Tanf area refused to guarantee security of UN and Red Crescent representatives, he said.
"It looks like the United States has agreed to implement the Rukban closure plan for the sole reason of providing humanitarian supplies to U.S.-backed militants. In the meantime, the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO) believe that the camp situation will worsen in the cold season," Mizintsev said.
A U.S. military base is located in the at-Tanf area close to the Syrian-Jordanian border. Rukban is situated within the 55-kilometer zone around the U.S. base. The Russian military and representatives of the Russian and Syrian foreign ministries have repeatedly affirmed an approaching humanitarian catastrophe in the camp.