“Death Camp” in the Syrian Desert appeals to the international community and the United Nations to take out of an unknown fate in if the US forces withdraw from Syria
The Civil Administration in al-Rokban camp, which is located in the desert at the Syrian-Jordanian border, issued a statement appealing to the international community after the US president’s statements to withdraw from Syria, where the Syrian Observatory obtained a copy of the statement, it says: “the Area 55 which is protected by the International Coalition represented by al-Tanf base, which houses more than 70000 displaced people, they are threatened with an unknown fate in the event of withdrawal of the International Coalition, most likely, the fate will be the inevitable death, we call on the international community, the Security Council, the United Nations, and all Human Rights Organizations, to take their full role for the fate of those stranded in this big prison, the so-called death camp (al-Rokban), and to find solutions for them by opening safe roads to safe areas, where all of them have been besieged for many years, and they are very poor and do not have the money to secure their food let alone having money for transportation fees from this camp, and it worth mentioning that aid does not reach them more than once a year.”
The Syrian Observatory published on the 23rd of December 2018 that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained information from several reliable sources that the forces of Maghawir al-Thawra operating in al-Tanf area and supported by the International Coalition, are preparing to be transferred to the Syrian north, along with civilians and fighters who rejected the “reconciliation and settlement with the regime”, the intersected sources confirmed for the Syrian Observatory that preparations are underway to transfer thousands towards the Syrian north, and the reasons for the transfer from the area is that the information the factions received, where these factions are supported by the International Coalition and located in al-Tanf area on the Syrian-Iraqi border, within the Syrian desert and in the Rokban camp for the displaced people which includes more than 60 thousand displaced people, these factions were informed to prepare to be transferred to the Syrian north, because of the intention of the United States of America to withdraw its forces from the area and east of Euphrates, following the decision of the US President to withdraw his forces of the Syrian territory.
This decision ignited the resentment in al-Rokban camp and the areas that are under the protection of the International Coalition within the Syrian desert, where the residents expressed their resentment and condemnation of the decision of the US President to withdraw, leaving them to face the fate of tens of thousands of Syrians who were killed either by bombing or under torture or by other means, after the regime forces took control of their areas, and the residents of al-Rokban camp for the displaced people hold the United States, its president, and forces responsible for their lives, if they were put at risk of being killed and detained by the regime forces, their allies, and the Russians, where those in charge of al-Rokban camp announced that they prepare for a sit-in tomorrow and that they will go towards al-Tanf base; to demand the International Coalition officials to find radical solutions for them, along with their complete rejection for carrying out “reconciliations and settlements” with the regime forces, and the Syrian Observatory published in the past 48 hours that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that factions of Ahmad al-‘Abdu and Jaysh al-Maghawir; which operate in the Syrian Desert in al-Rokban camp at the Syrian-Jordanian border, carried out a raid and arrested people on the outskirts of al-Rokban camp, where they arrested 16 people of the sleeper cells of the “Islamic State” organization, where the group used to enter and exit al-Rokban camp from time to time, and the Syrian Observatory published 2 days ago that the sleeper cells of different parties, notably the “Islamic State” organization, continue to operate within areas that used to be under their control, or in areas where there are displaced people used to be in its controlled areas earlier, of who were driven by circumstances to seek shelter and a safe place to live away of killing or death, but the cells operating in different areas of the Syrian territory are still seeking more chaos, instability, and to shed more blood of which hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been poured on the Syrian soil by all parties, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor the activity of more cells, this time, near International Coalition base in al-Tanf area in the Syrian desert, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights received a copy of a statement issued by the office of the security Forces of Ahmad al-Abdu who are located in al-Rokban camp area near la-Tanf base and the Syrian – Jordanian border.
The statement says: “to our people in al-Rokban camp and the neighboring areas, we advise you to take caution at this stage and difficult days of the history of our blessed revolution, as these difficult circumstances and political unrest will be taken advantage of by dark hands, that want the worse for you and us, and to bring us back through security chaos in the barn of obedience to Bashar al-Assad and his allies, and through our keenness on our security and your security in the area we have taken several security measures, relying on the help of God and your interaction and help, by providing us with information about any strange person in the area or any suspected movement by people suspected of dealing with the fallen regime, the Russian occupiers, and ISIS Organization as cells in the area, or any strange car or objects on public roads of our area, and we inform you that these measures will continue beyond the new year’s day”, and the statement mentioned telephone numbers to contact the security office.
The Syrian Observatory published on the 18th of November 2018 that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained information from intersected sources that the 2 persons who were found dead in al-Rokban Camp on the 16th of November; were from the people who refused to swear allegiance to the “Islamic State” Organization in al-Dumayr city back in 2014, during the control of the Organization on the city, and they were expelled from the city by the Organization and settled in al-Rokban camp near the Syrian – Jordanian border. Sources in al-Rokban Camp told the Syrian Observatory that they found papers with names of 56 people they were asked to liquidate them by forces of the Syrian regime. And about their murder; the reliable sources confirmed that 6 people including 2 former fighters in the ranks of the “Islamic State” Organization, who had been arrested about a year and a half ago by the forces of Ahmad al-Abdu, and were handed over to the International Coalition Forces at al-Tanf Base, and they were investigated in Jordan for long periods then they were subjected for a rehabilitation course at al-Tanf base, released, and settled in the al-Rokban camp, the sources confirmed that those people are the ones who killed the 2 persons, where they brought the 2 persons to a home of a former fighter on the pretext of resolving differences and settling the situation between both parties, and they were captured at home on the afternoon of the 16th of November 2018, then they were taken out that night and executed in al-Bayda area on the outskirts of the camp, without the knowledge of the factions in the camp, who learned about the incident the next morning and searched for the 6 people who are from an Arab clan and demolished their homes in al-Rokban, and they still searching for them until now.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on the 16th of November 2018 that the causes and circumstances of the killing of 2 people, one from the forces of al-Shahid Ahmad al-Abdu who reject the displacement agreement from al-Rokban camp to the Syrian north, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored finding the 2 bodies thrown at the outskirts of the camp, and the causes and circumstances of their death remain unknown until now, this incident comes in the shadow of the continuation of tragic conditions of the displaced people in the camp, in conjunction with the bad weather conditions in the area, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on the 11th of November 2018 that death chases the Syrian citizens from the Turkish border which is adjacent to the Syrian North part of which is also controlled by Turkey, to the southern border with Jordan, the story of killing the Syrians by the border guards has no end, as the violations by them are continuing, and the killing continues at a pace that is varying from time to time, where the Syrian Observatory monitored the death of an old woman, after she was hit with a gunshot while she was near the place of water in al-Rokban camp, and local sources confirmed to the SOHR that the Jordanian border guards shot the woman today, Sunday the 11th of November 2018, while she was in the camp, where the locals have monitored the sound of gunfire since the midnight of Saturday – Sunday, where hundreds of gunshots have been fired since evening until today’s noon, by the Jordanian border guards, towards the Desert and the camp, where one of the bullets killed the woman.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored a great resentment by the camps’ residents against the ongoing violations and the siege imposed over them, as well as the international and regional attempts to remove the camp whose inhabitants refuse to return to their areas which are under the control of the regime forces, due to the breaches that are still being committed by the regime forces even against those who have their situation settled, where the Syrian Observatory published on the 8th of November 2018, that it obtained information from reliable sources who confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that most of the residents of al-Rokban camp refuse to return to their areas, even with the Russian guarantees provided to them, and in the details obtained by the Syrian Observatory: the residents of al-Rokban camp have rejected the Jordanian – Russian consensus to return more than 60000 residents of al-Rokban camp to the areas from which they come; which are controlled by the regime forces, and although the Russians provided guarantees for the return, the displaced people in the camp rejected it completely, reliable sources told the Syrian Observatory that the reason behind this rejection was the arrest of about 50 young men who are from towns and cities in the eastern countryside of Homs, despite “settling their situation and reconciling with the regime”, where the youths have “settled their situation” in groups called “Hesn al-Watan” (Fort of the Motherland of the regime forces, but the military intelligence interrogated and investigated them first, then arrested them despite the fact that they service in a faction of the regime forces, which raised the discontent of people and pushed them to refuse the return and reject the Russian guarantees.