As of 23 May, 13,153 people in 16 groups have left Rukban and been transported to five shelters in Homs governorate; constituting more than a third of Rukban’s population of nearly 42,000. The number of people leaving Rukban has decreased in past weeks due to lack of vehicles and cost of transport to the Al Waha reception area near the 55km point. Once in Homs, the majority spends approximately 24 hours at the shelters where children are vaccinated and families receive humanitarian and medical assistance before leaving to areas of a final destination of choice.

On 13 May, OCHA Syria visited two of the shelters, met with SARC teams and those that had recently arrived from Rukban. Conditions in shelters meet minimum standards. As of 22 May, 1,022 people are still in the shelters; 467 men, 205 women, 277 children and 73 infants.

The UN and partners continue providing assistance through SARC in the five shelters as well as in nine locations in Homs governorate where people from Rukban are settling. Assistance includes e.g. mattresses, solar lamps, water, diapers, plastic sheets, food parcels, and high-energy biscuits. The remaining population of Rukban, where living conditions continue to deteriorate as temperatures rise and food becomes more and more scarce - is estimated to be around 29,000 people.