In Full View and Hearing of the United Nations: How Bashar al-Assad Plunders International Aid

The ongoing controversy surrounding the Syrian regime's plundering of international aid remains a subject of much debate. It is not just because these aids fail to reach their intended recipients, but also because they serve as a crucial source of hard currency that bolsters the survival of Bashar al-Assad. He refuses any political resolution that could end the catastrophe his country has been plunged into for over a decade.

Numerous investigations and on-the-ground realities in Syria have repeatedly demonstrated that substantial amounts of stolen international aid simply vanish into the bank accounts of the Assad regime's economic arms and institutions. These funds are then used to finance military efforts against innocent Syrians.

Theft and Fraud

In this context, the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, in collaboration with the Syrian Legal Development Programme, published a new report that tracks purchases made by United Nations agencies from Assad regime-affiliated entities. It analyzes the transparency of UN humanitarian operations in Syria.

The report reveals a widespread decline in purchases from Syria across various UN agencies. Ten out of 14 agencies reported a decrease in their purchases from 2021 to 2022 compared to 2019-2020.

This decline signifies a shift in the UN's policy regarding sources of humanitarian supplies in the country. While avoiding purchases from within the targeted state can harm the local economy in normal circumstances, it is welcomed in the Syrian context due to the systematic plundering of aid.

According to United Nations procurement data, aid worth approximately $309 million was purchased from suppliers based in Syria between 2021 and 2022 alone. This means that within just two years, Assad regime affiliates directly benefited from an astonishing $71 million of Western taxpayer money, effectively perpetuating the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

The report utilized leaked data from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in the Assad regime government, revealing UN partners from non-governmental organizations not publicly disclosed by the UN.

More than half of these companies' owners are accused of human rights violations against Syrians, and one-third of them are sanctioned by the U.S., the UK, or the European Union.

According to the report, these regime-affiliated suppliers contribute to the war economy intricately linked to the Syrian regime's violence.

For example, the Syrian Olive Oil Company received over $33 million from the World Food Programme despite being partially owned by Ghassan Adib Mhanna, the nephew of Bashar al-Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, who managed the Assad financial empire from 2000 to 2020.

Another example is First Class, a company partially owned by Nozha Mamlouk, the son of the notorious intelligence chief General Ali Mamlouk. It received $123,000 from the United Nations Development Programme.

Ali Mamlouk served as the head of the National Security Bureau of the Syrian regime from July 2012 until early 2024 when Assad appointed him as a security advisor.

France initiated the first trial regarding crimes attributed to the Syrian regime on May 21, 2024, before the Criminal Court in Paris. Three senior Syrian officials are being tried in absentia for complicity in committing crimes against humanity, including Ali Mamlouk.

The report reveals that between 2021 and 2022, suppliers with higher risk levels tend to receive larger funding from the United Nations. This indicates the success of high-ranking Assad regime officials in securing UN funding under humanitarian pretenses.

Syrian economic experts have highlighted the risks of diverting and looting humanitarian aid in regime-controlled areas by potential human rights violators.

Nearly 90% of Syrians live in extreme poverty, with 13 million relying on humanitarian assistance.

Approximately seven million Syrians have been displaced from their homes to camps, mostly consisting of tents, outside areas controlled by the Assad regime.

A closer look at the Syrian regime's tight management of the aid process from 2013 to 2021 shows that the regime imposed on UN agencies that aid delivery must be done through the Syrian Red Crescent, after approval from the Supreme Relief Committee of the Syrian government. This allows the regime to control who receives aid, where, and when.

Thus, the regime can manipulate the distribution of material and financial aid to serve its interests.

The regime has distributed aid to its forces or to militias it formed and brought in from abroad to suppress the Syrian revolution that began in March 2011.

Numerous videos have surfaced showing Assad's forces using products bearing the UN logo. The regime also distributed aid only to its loyalists and in specific areas.

The Syrian Red Crescent has not adhered to its seven founding principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, universality), particularly impartiality.

The organization has practiced extortion in distributing international and UN aid, denying besieged areas or those outside Assad's control access to food supplies.

Economic Manipulation 

Notably, UN purchases from the Syrian state-owned petroleum company responsible for storing and distributing petroleum products inexplicably rose by 384%, reaching $2.49 million.

In a move revealing the Assad regime's exploitation of international funds intended for Syrian relief, following the February 2023 earthquake that struck the country and neighboring Turkiye, the regime issued a decree requiring all organizations and foreign embassies to pay for their fuel needs in dollars instead of Syrian pounds.

At that time, the regime set the price of a liter of 90-octane gasoline at $1.50, which is 60-80% higher than global prices and even black-market prices in Syria.

Following the earthquake, Fadel Abdulghany, the executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, emphasized that "providing aid through the Syrian regime and the organizations created by its security apparatus could shift countries and supporting organizations from humanitarian work to supporting and funding terrorism and crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime against its people."

"We understand the good intentions of the supporting countries and organizations, but the Syrian regime does not loot 30 or 40% of the aid; the looting rate could reach 90%," he added in media statements.

Moreover, in its "professional theft" style with international aid organizations, the Syrian regime has deeply infiltrated the "civil society sector."

For example, the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks confirms that the Noor Relief Fund, a seemingly legitimate NGO, received more than $2 million from the UN Population Fund and the World Health Organization, along with previous partnerships with UNICEF and the UNHCR.

Noor Relief Fund is headed by Mohammad Jalbout, accused of collaborating with Syrian security agencies and facilitating security procedures against opposition activists, including forced confessions and torture that led to the death of Palestinian photographer Niraz Saied in 2018.

Syrian security forces arrested Saied without known reasons after a Syrian security group raided his residence in Damascus in October 2015.

Jalbout is also linked to the Liwa al-Quds militia, loyal to the Syrian regime. This militia was founded by local Syrian elements in 2013 with direct support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to suppress the Syrian revolution.

Jalbout continues to participate in UN-led meetings, most recently representing Syrian civil society in Geneva's "Civil Society Support Room" on January 29, 2024.

Syria Trust for Development received $2.3 million from the UNHCR between February and May 2021 alone to fund legal and multi-sector assistance programs for returnees and displaced persons.

Asma, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, launched the Syria Trust for Development in 2001. After 2011, she used it to garner popular support for her husband.

Asma al-Assad successfully misled UN agencies into believing she was overseeing humanitarian projects in Syria through the Syria Trust for Development, thereby hijacking relief efforts and receiving aid and financial assistance in dollars, which benefits the regime's treasury with hard currency.

Awn Relief, funded by the UN with approximately $1 million for public health initiatives, is another glaring example. It is headed by Nabil al-Qasir, who also serves as the director of Medico Pharma in Homs, a company allegedly linked to the production of Captagon.

Corruption Allegations 

Over the years, UN agency missions and NGOs have made numerous deals under humanitarian pretenses with Assad regime institutions and top figures, amounting to millions of dollars.

On October 22, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that its Office of Internal Oversight Services is investigating corruption allegations against its Syria office head, Akjemal Magtymova.

WHO staff in Syria accused their director of corruption, pointing to her mismanagement of millions of dollars, which were distributed to regime officials as gifts.

The report's authors emphasized that given the exceptionally high levels of government corruption in Syria, there should be a strong incentive to avoid contracting with Syrian state institutions wherever possible.

In 2023, Syria ranked 177th out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Of particular concern is the UN's lack of transparency. In 2022, Syria had the highest proportion of purchases from suppliers whose identities the UN withholds in its procurement database for "security" or "privacy" reasons compared to the top five countries with the largest humanitarian responses.

Data shows that UN agencies purchasing from undisclosed suppliers tend to be accused of more violations.

For instance, the Associated Press accused the World Health Organization, a leader in such procurements, of delivering gold bars and cars to regime officials.

These purchases, however, constitute only a small portion of the UN's overall humanitarian spending. Major expenses include overseas procurement, staff salaries, and local partnerships with civil society organizations.

For UN-funded NGOs listed in the leaked documents, many have shown explicit and strong support for the Assad regime, which caused a significant portion of the humanitarian disaster in Syria and committed severe human rights violations.

Ultimately, according to economic experts, the main reason for diverting aid is not the corruption of some UN officials but their acceptance of the Assad regime's manipulation as a price for doing business.

Additionally, the UN's acceptance of exchange rates below the market rate to convert dollars into Syrian pounds for UN operations is a significant benefit for Assad.

Moreover, pressure on the UN to work with regime-controlled companies is another profit source.

The regime also employs various tactics that undermine humanitarian operations, such as preventing UN staff from assessing the needs of the Syrian population effectively or even providing information about the aid received and the timing of its delivery.

In January 2022, the heads and members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations requested President Joe Biden to prepare a strategy to prevent such theft by the Syrian regime, ensuring that aid reaches those in dire need.

In their letter, U.S. lawmakers emphasized that Assad stole over $100 million in aid in 2019-2020 alone through currency manipulation during that period.