The notorious Rukban displacement camp in the Syrian desert, a dark emblem of the country’s civil war, has closed, with the last remaining families returning to their hometowns. Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa announced on Saturday that with the dismantlement of the camp, “a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime’s war machine comes to a close”.
He further described Rukban as “the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert”.
Established in 2014 at the height of the country’s ruinous civil war, the camp housed those fleeing ISIL fighters and bombardment by the then-government of President Bashar al-Assad. However, al-Assad’s regime rarely allowed aid to enter the camp, rendering Rukban isolated for years under a punishing siege. About 8,000 people lived in the camp, staying in mud-brick houses with food and basic goods smuggled in at high prices.
The camp’s closure follows the toppling of al-Assad’s regime after a lightning offensive led by the current president of Syria’s interim government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in December. Al-Sharaa has promised to unite Syria following the fall of al-Assad and rebuild the country at home and rejoin the international fold abroad.
Last month, al-Sharaa met with world leaders, including United States President Donald Trump, who announced that sanctions on Syria would be removed, allowing the country a “chance at greatness”. The European Union also lifted sanctions, giving Syria a critical lifeline to economic recovery after nearly 14 years of war and economic devastation.
For those returning home, the experience is bittersweet. Yasmine al-Salah, who returned to her home after nine years of displacement in the Rukban camp, described her feelings as “a happiness that cannot be described”.
Despite facing numerous challenges, including a destroyed home and financial struggles, al-Salah said, “Even though our house is destroyed, and we have no money, and we are hungry, and we have debts, and my husband is old and can’t work, and I have kids – still, it’s a castle in my eyes”.
Syrian Minister for Emergency Situations and Disasters Raed al-Saleh noted that the camp’s closure marks “the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people”. He added, “We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety”. According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their homes since al-Assad’s fall.