Opinion: UN offices in rebel-held Syria can’t be tool for Assad regime

In an unprecedented move, the United Nations has begun exploring the process of opening offices in northwestern Syria, after nine years of working remotely through local partners. This step, which humanitarian organizations in Syria have been hoping for for years, comes at a time when trust in U.N. agencies in Syria is at an all-time low. Questions are being asked about the goals and timing of the proposal, given the U.N.’s politicized response to February’s devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake, and its aid failures in northwest Syria. The question of whether the new U.N. offices in northwest Syria, an opposition-held region, will be run from Damascus or Gaziantep in southern Turkey is also critical given the controversial history of U.N. involvement in the country. Will the U.N. carry out cross-line logistical operations from Damascus that may promote corruption and aid politicization? Will coordination mechanisms be moved partially or completely to northwestern Syria? Will this mean that these mechanisms will report to Damascus in the long run? Will international U.N. staff need a visa from the Syrian government to enter northwestern Syria, allowing the regime to limit entry to those who conform to its policies, as it does in Damascus? Humanitarian context The U.N. Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview describes the situation in Syria as “one of the most complex humanitarian emergency responses in the world.” While U.N. operations in Syrian government areas are run out of Damascus, the aid system for the opposition-controlled northwest is based on a multihubs structure led from outside the country, delivering cross-border aid via neighboring countries mandated by a U.N. Security Council resolution. Following the February quakes, the U.N. responded swiftly in Turkey and government-controlled parts of Syria. But in the northwest, already fragile after years of bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces, no U.N. aid arrived during the critical 72-hour window to save lives. In a tweet, the U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths later admitted that the U.N. had “failed the people in north-west Syria,” adding that “They rightly feel abandoned.” In recent weeks, I know that the U.N. has begun discussions with Syrian NGOs and Syrian local authorities about opening offices in the northwest without any explanation of their motives, making frequent visits to the opposition interim government in parallel. Humanitarian groups in northwestern Syria already distrust the U.N. due to its history of alleged corruption, accusations of politicization of aid, and what some call its “overly cautious interpretations of international law” in favor of the regime. After the earthquake, this distrust was compounded when top U.N. leaders from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, and the UN Refugee Agency all rushed to meet with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. A history of manipulation The Assad government has a long history of manipulating humanitarian aid and using it as a weapon of war. In government-controlled areas, the regime has utilized U.N. agencies in Damascus to serve its political interests and benefit its cronies, including through contracts with ministries under international sanctions as well as by employing family members of senior Syrian officials. This includes WHO’s employment of Shukriya Mekdad, the wife of Faisal Mekdad, the former minister of foreign affairs, or the employment of the daughter of Hossam Louka, head of the General Intelligence Department and who is under U.S. and British sanctions as a result of his involvement in war crimes. A 2022 report by Human Rights Watch and the Syrian Legal Development Programme exposed serious flaws in U.N. procurement procedures leading to contracts with companies owned by people sanctioned for their involvement in human rights abuses. Fearing expulsion, U.N. agencies have been keen to avoid any criticism of the violations committed by the regime. And now, despite the meetings with local humanitarians on the ground, when asked by the media about plans for U.N. presence in the northwest, a U.N. representative in Turkey said that there are “no current plans to open an office in NW Syria at the moment,” adding to the lack of clarity. Transparency needed There is no doubt that establishing a physical U.N. presence in northwestern Syria is long overdue. But unless there is transparency and U.N. acknowledgment of the politicization of aid in Damascus, this step will be viewed with profound suspicion. The U.N. must not be used as a political tool to expand Assad’s influence over aid to Syria’s northwest. It must ensure that any offices established in the northwest do not report to Damascus and will not be used to pave the way for further cross-line aid. Expanding Assad’s control of aid will only exacerbate the suffering of the 4.6 million Syrians in the northwest, 90% of whom rely on humanitarian assistance to survive.