© Khalil Mazraawi / AFPRefugees at Rukban camp in Syria.
The checkpoints for "voluntary, unimpeded and safe passage" will start operating at Jleb and Jabal al-Ghurab on February 19, Russian and Syrian military said in a joint statement on Saturday. The two corridors are intended to help refugees leave the Rukban camp and move to the territory administered by the Syrian government, where they can access assistance.
The Rukban camp, housing around 40,000 displaced people, mostly women and children, is located in the southeastern part of the country, near the Jordanian border. The area is controlled by the US.
The World Health Organization recently described the refugees there as "trapped" and "stranded," and said they were living "in deplorable conditions" without medical care, generators or fuel to provide warmth during cold weather.
Comment: Clearly the idea of actually helping Syrians is low on the US-led coalitions agenda, because, instead, they've been keeping themselves busy bombing them: US-led coalition's policy of bombing 'ex-mosques' in Syria revealed, 70 civilians dead in 2 days, Kurdish militants advance in Al-Baghuz