UN convoy supports vulnerable, displaced people in Rukban

Six-year-old Nour is running cheerfully to introduce her “school” to UNHCR teams in Rukban makeshift settlement. The dark, dilapidated mud room is a school to the children of Rukban.

It is just another day for Nour, to run with her friend in the cold, muddy desert, wearing only plastic slippers to protect her cold feet. The children welcome their teacher at the door of their “classroom” and start class, sharing the one book they have. The children can barely see the words because the room is too dark. “We are used to it!” they say. Many of these children have to get by with only one meal a day according to the UN teams on the ground.

Nour (the second from the right) standing with her friends outside their "classroom". ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

The room that is used as a school in Rukban is very dark. Children can barely see. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

“I have one book for the first grade that I carried with me when I fled my hometown in Homs says one of the volunteer teachers. We also have one book for the second grade!” Says Abdel Fatah Al-Khaled, who also works as a volunteer teacher in Rukban and is displaced from Palmyra.

More than 40,000 displaced people live in the remote Rukban ‘makeshift’ settlement in south-eastern Syria, on the border with Jordan. Families are stranded in an extremely dire situation enduring living conditions unimaginable to most.

“Food is scarce and I cannot get diapers or even medicine for my sick daughter.”

“My daughters are living an extremely tough life here with me. Food is scarce and I cannot get diapers or even medicine for my sick daughter.” Says Eida, a displaced woman from Homs who has been living in Rukban for 4 years. “We pay 1000 SYP (2$) for one litre of water. And 500 SYP (1$) for some bread that is barely enough for the day”. This is 5 times the price of bread in Damascus.

Eida, mother of two, is talking to our colleagues from WHO about her daughter's hormonal growth disease. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

Amira, Eida's daughter, is checking out the nutritional supplements provided by WFP. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

The vast majority of the residents in Rukban makeshift settlement are women and children. Women find themselves alone caring for their children with little to no income, under horrendous circumstances.

Two elderly women from the displaced families living in Rukban makeshift settlement. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

On February 6th, 2019, over 300 humanitarian workers from the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) arrived at Rukban makeshift settlement, in the largest humanitarian convoy in the Syria crisis to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the people in Rukban.

The mission reached Rukban after weeks of negotiation and is expected to last approximately one week.

“This delivery of essential humanitarian supplies could not have happened a moment too soon,”

“This large-scale delivery of essential humanitarian supplies to the extremely vulnerable in Rukban could not have happened a moment too soon,” says UNHCR Syria Representative and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i., Mr. Sajjad Malik.

The joint UN and SARC inter-agency convoy consists of 118 trucks loaded with food, health, nutritional, and education supplies, WASH materials, and winter assistance including blankets, plastic sheets, solar Lamps, winter clothing kits, sleeping bags, and sleeping mats.

Over 300 UN\SARC staff members accompanied the humanitarian convoy to Rukban to assess the needs of over 40,000 displaced person. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

118 trucks delivered life-saving assistance to over 40,000 people in Rukban makeshift settlement. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

118 trucks delivered life-saving assistance to over 40,000 people in Rukban makeshift settlement. ©UNHCR/Mysa Khalaf

Vaccines for some 10,000 children under five-years-of-age is also a part of the convoy as well as needs assessments that will be carried out.

This is the second humanitarian convoy to reach Rukban informal settlement. The first convoy took place on November 2nd, 2018.

UNHCR Protection and Field teams are on the ground in Rukban to deliver life-saving assistance and ensure the assistance is reaching the people in need. The teams are meeting with the people in the settlement to listen to their needs and concerns.

Life in Rukban makeshift settlement lacks the very basic necessities including infrastructure, electricity and water system, and the mud-brick shelters barely provide any protection from the cold weather during winter.

“This can provide some relief to the people but it is not enough.”

“It is raining. It is cold in the Rukban makeshift settlement. We are providing much-needed thermal blankets, mattresses, and sleeping bags. The children will also be vaccinated. This can provide some relief to the people but it is not enough. People here are asking for a solution to their problem.” Says the Spokesperson of UNHCR Syria, Mysa Khalaf, from Rukban.

UNHCR, with UN agencies in Syria, continues to call for a safe, voluntary, long-term solution to help the people in Rukban, whether through facilitating the voluntary return to their homes or to a place of their choosing in safety and dignity. Humanitarian access to people in Rukban must remain safe, sustained and unimpeded.

“I wish there is a safe way out of this place. But meanwhile, I hope that this assistance will continue on a regular basis, it provides some relief that we desperately need.” Says Eida.

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