The United Nations gave government officials and charities linked to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a series of contracts worth tens of millions of dollars as part of a Syrian aid program, the Guardian reported Monday.
Critics of the U.N. mission argue the aid is being funneled primarily into government-held regions, effectively boosting a regime that has massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians over the past five years.
Companies under European Union and U.S. sanctions have received substantial contributions from the U.N. mission, along with government departments and charities.
The U.N. has paid more than $13 million to the Assad regime since 2011 to stimulate farming and agriculture despite E.U. sanctions banning trade with the government departments due to concerns over how the money is being spent, according to contracts unearthed by the Guardian.
The World Health Organization gave more than $5 million to support Syria’s national blood bank, which is controlled by Assad’s defense department. The donations moved forward despite "concrete concerns" about whether the blood supplies were aiding civilians or military troops.
U.N. officials argue the organization is limited to working with a small group of partners approved by Assad and claim they take extensive measures to guarantee the money is being used appropriately.
"Of paramount importance is reaching as many vulnerable civilians as possible," a spokesman told the Guardian. "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."
The U.N. claims its Syrian aid mission has saved millions of civilians, maintaining that the organization must work with the regime and Assad allies to function in Syria.
For example, the Syrian Trust charity, founded and chaired by Assad’s wife, Asma, has received $8.5 million from two U.N. agencies despite Asma remaining under U.S. and E.U. sanctions.
The U.N. notes that it is not required to abide by U.S. or E.U. sanctions.
"Operating in Syria, with the conflict now entering its sixth year, forces humanitarians to make difficult choices," a U.N. spokesman told the Guardian.
"When faced with having to decide whether to procure goods or services from businesses that may be affiliated with the government or let civilians go without life-saving assistance, the choice is clear: our duty is to the civilians in need."
But a U.N. official who served in Damascus soon after the civil war began said the organization’s Syria team knew that neither the government nor the local businesses or groups approved by Assad to work with the U.N. "could be considered as befitting of the humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality, and impartiality."
The Syrian government’s onslaught against rebel forces opposing Assad’s authoritarian rule has killed an estimated 400,000 people while displacing millions of refugees since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011. About 13.5 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to official figures.