The United Nations has pumped tens of millions of dollars of aid money into the hands of the Syrian regime, the Guardian reports.
U.N. payments personally enriched Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family members, along with several companies that are under sanction by the U.S. and European Union. The U.N. defended the payments to the Guardian, saying, “Our choices in Syria are limited by a highly insecure context where finding companies and partners who operate in besieged and hard to reach areas is extremely challenging.”
Assad’s regime is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in Syria, and maintains a systematic bombing campaign against civilians. His control of humanitarian aid delivery in Syria allows him to use it as a weapon to win the Syrian civil war.
Residents of the town of Daraya surrendered to the Assad regime Thursday, after being besieged for four years. In the four years Daraya held out, the Assad regime allowed only two humanitarian aid deliveries, with neither including food. At the same time, the regime leveled much of the city with barrel bombs. The surrender of Daraya illustrates how Assad can use control over U.N.-provided humanitarian aid, in conjunction with bombs, to achieve his military objectives.
The Guardian’s report also revealed that the World Health Organization (WHO) has provided five million dollars to Syria’s national blood bank. WHO reportedly has “concrete concerns” over whether the blood ever gets to civilians, and suspect the regime may have used it to care for its wounded military personnel.
Assad, and his Russian and Iranian allies, continue to bombard rebel areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Aleppo is largest city inside Syria, and served as the commercial capital prior the civil war. The U.N. is pleading with Russia and the Syrian regime to agree to a temporary ceasefire in order to allow humanitarian aid deliveries, but neither party has shown interest.
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