Damascus, Syria.-Cuban diplomats in Syria toured a camp for displaced people in Heryali, Al Horjelah, in Damascus Province.

The Cuban delegation was received by Mayor Abdul Rahim Thated, who explained that before the conflict in March 2011, there were 9,000 people living in it. Later the number increased to more than 60,000.

The increase resulted from the large number of people who escaped from different zones occupied by extremist groups, such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Front for the Liberation of the Levant (former Al-Nusra).

Rahim Thated added that in recent years the camp received more than 3,000 former former armed militants with their family through the current national reconciliation program, promoted by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Many of those ex extremist fighters -he remarked- expressed their willingness to join the ranks of the army to fight against ISIS.

The Mayor mentioned as a significant fact that all the displaced people sheltered in the camp have their basic needs covered for free, including food, accommodation and medical care.

After thanking the warm welcome by the Mayor’s office, the second chief of the Cuban Embassy in Syria Pablo Ginarte reaffirmed Cuba’s friendship with the Syrian people the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1965.