Aid agencies call for investigation into UN operations in Syria

More than 70 humanitarian groups have suspended information-sharing cooperation with the UN in Syria, accusing the world body of being influenced in its operations, including in the distribution of aid, by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Besides suspending participation in a program in which groups share information to help in the delivery of aid across Syria, the letter’s signatories also called for a transparent investigation into the “political impact that the Syrian government has on humanitarian actors”.

The UN is accused of complacency amid Syrian government interference in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including blocking aid to besieged rebel-held areas, removing medical aid from convoys, and marginalizing humanitarian workers for political reasons, according to a copy of the letter sent to Al Jazeera.

UN officials in Syria are aware of the situation and remain silent, the letter states. “This deliberate manipulation by the Syrian government and the complacency of the UN have played hand-in-hand. The people of Syria have suffered ever more as a result.”

[Al Jazeera]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.