Russia to refloat Assad via settlements in al-Rukban camp – official
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Russia’s promotion settlements in al-Rukan camp for Syrian IDPs is a an attempt to “refloating the Syrian regime and presenting that the Global Coalition has failed in running the area,” head of local council in the camp said.
Muhammad Ahmad Derbas, head of the Local Council in al-Rukban camp, told North Press, “Russia exerts all these efforts to demonstrate an image to the world that conditions in the regime-held areas are good, claiming that people return to the latter’s areas from those held by the Syrian opposition and the coalition.”
Two days ago, London-based The New Arab news website reported that Russia seeks to have access to al-Rukban camp in the eastern countryside of Homs to subject its residents to settlements.
Derbas added that this step aims at evacuating the camp and the region of its residents “to force the US-led Global Coalition to withdraw from that area which is of strategic importance to it.”
Al-Rukban is situated within the 55-kilometre “de-confliction zone” east of Homs Governorate nearby the Syrian eastern border with Jordan and Iraq.
It was established in 2014 to house IDPs from eastern governorate, Homs and the city of Palmyra, who fled battles between several forces and the Islamic State Organization (ISIS).
The Global Coalition supports “Free Army of Syria” (formerly the Maghaweir al-Thowra [Revolutionary Commando Army], it operates in southern Syria, specifically in the vicinity of al-Tanf military base close to the Jordan-Iraq border and involved in several battles against ISIS.
The Coalition removed Muhanad Tala from his position in late September. The leader was replaced by Muhammad Farid al-Qassem, a former captain who joined the armed opposition after defecting from the government forces and later formed the al-Qaryatayn Martyrs Brigade in al-Tanf with support from the US.
Tala, who founded the Maghaweir al-Thowra in 2016 with support from the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, is a former colonel of the Syrian government forces who defected early in the Syrian war.
It is supported logistically and financially by the coalition that seeks to prevent Iranian infiltration [into south Syria] in the vicinity of the border with Israel and Jordan.
The head of the local council noted that Russia “works to give the world an image that the coalition and the Syrian opposition have failed in running their areas of control.”
Derbas went further saying, “Russia wants to refloat the Syrian regime and allow it to regain control over all Syrian parts before leaving Syria, owing to dire conditions in the view of its war in Ukraine.”
He added that prior to the closure of a medical point in the camp and preventing humanitarian organizations from accessing to it since 2019, Russians had failed in deceasing al-Rukban residents’ number.
In response to Russians’ attempts, the local council has sent messages to the Global Coalition including names of individuals “who were killed by the Syrian regime in detentions after being arrested in accommodation centers though they had been granted guarantees by Russia that they would not be pursued by the government,” according to Derbas.
A father and his son were tortured to death in Saydnaya prison of the Syrian government though they had had their conditions settled two years ago under auspice of Syrian Red Crescent and Russian Reconciliation Center.
In a statement, Tribes Council of Palmyra and Syrian Desert said that Mo’yad al-Obaid and Abdulaziz al-Obaid joined the government settlement on their arrival from al-Rukban camp in 2020.
Residents of al-Rukban camp, estimating at about 12.000 individuals, have been under bitter siege since 2018 in tandem with banning internationals institutions from reaching it by the government forces under the pretext of insecurity in the camp.