Access to food ‘precarious’ for Syrians stranded near Jordan
AMMAN, Jordan — The U.N. humanitarian chief called for immediate “life-saving” access to 50,000 displaced Syrians stranded on the sealed border with Jordan, as aid officials reported a sharp drop in food supplies in the remote desert camp since Syrian government forces advanced toward the area in the summer.
Black market prices for food have soared and malnutrition is on the rise among young children in the Rukban camp, the officials said.
Mark Lowcock, the U.N. official, told the U.N. Security Council in a Syria briefing that a long-term solution is needed for getting aid to Rukban.
He said that “the best approach is to find a solution from within Syria” — an apparent shift after U.N. agencies held months of largely unsuccessful talks with Jordan about access to the camp.