Exclusive: Top Republican urges State Department to rethink Syria aid

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul is alarmed about United States aid to Syria and has asked the State Department to urgently evaluate its assistance in the country, according to a letter Devex obtained. McCaul, a Republican from Texas, sent the letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urging “immediate action to ensure assistance is delivered in a manner that is consistent with U.S. strategic objectives.” The U.S. provided about $826 million to Syria in 2022, according to Foreignassistance.gov — up from about $770 million in 2021, but below 2020 numbers. His concern is that aid dollars are not going solely to the humanitarian response but are supporting reconstruction efforts, including in areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S., through Republican and Democrat administrations, has made it clear that “support for Syria’s long-term development, to include any form of reconstruction in Assad-held areas, is unacceptable absent a permanent, political resolution,” he wrote. Syrian reconstruction will require international support and holding back rebuilding funds is a key source of leverage over the Assad regime, McCaul wrote. “I am alarmed by the dramatic expansion of U.S. assistance to areas controlled by Assad for purposes far beyond lifesaving humanitarian aid,” he stated. U.S. funds, including those that go through the United Nations and other international organizations, are backing development projects in Assad-controlled areas, according to McCaul. He cited examples of business development training, bakery rehabilitation, and climate change programs in eastern Ghouta, Latakia, and Tartus as concerning. At the heart of the issue appears to be a discrepancy between how the U.S. and U.N. define “early recovery” funding and whether it should focus on humanitarian emergency needs or include “building resilience in post-crisis settings.” The funding for “early recovery” aid programs has gradually expanded since the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2585 in 2021, which included a concession to a Russian demand that the text includes support for broader aid activities, according to House Foreign Affairs majority staff. McCaul tells Blinken that the U.S. should push for a single definition of “early recovery” at the U.N. Security Council that is focused on humanitarian response and not development aid. “This must be a necessary precondition for future U.S. support for ‘early recovery’ assistance, whether through the U.N. or non-governmental organizations,” he wrote.