Secretary-General Welcomes Aid Delivery for 50,000 People Stranded Near Syria-Jordan Border, Urging Unimpeded Access to Poorly Served Camp

The Secretary-General welcomes the delivery of humanitarian aid that began today for 50,000 people in need stranded at the Rukban camp near the Syria-Jordan border.  The delivery by the United Nations, jointly with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, also allows the teams to conduct an emergency vaccination campaign for some 10,000 children and undertake rapid needs assessments.

While recognizing that the long-needed delivery is an important achievement, the overall humanitarian access to this informal desert camp remains wholly inadequate.  The Secretary-General calls on all relevant actors to ensure continued, full, safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to the tens of thousands of displaced Syrians in this remote area, and to all people in need throughout the country.