Residents in the Amrit area of Tartous countryside have stumbled upon caches of expired UN aid buried at multiple locations in the vicinity. This unfortunate situation has arisen due to prolonged storage within Syrian regime warehouses, accompanied by the regime’s refusal to distribute the aid to its citizens.
Syrian journalist Kenan Waqaf revealed that, by chance, a group of children playing in the Amrit area discovered hundreds of tons of buried aid. Evidently, these supplies were discarded through burial by the Syrian regime after reaching their expiration date. This expiration was evident from the production and expiry dates.
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The range of aid items found includes a variety of foodstuffs like rice, lentils, tea, chickpeas, infant formula, biscuits, dates, and natural juices. Additionally, medical supplies such as medicines, gloves, and masks were also present in these caches.
According to labelling on the bags and containers, the aid was dispatched to the Syrian regime through the port of Lattakia. The aid products were produced by several countries including the UAE, India, China, and Indonesia.
Waqaf reported that residents are continually discovering more sites where expired aid has been buried, indicating a systemic issue.
The Syrian regime’s pilferage of UN humanitarian aid to finance its military forces persists, exacerbating the dire conditions faced by millions of families. Despite the passage of over 6 months since the earthquake, aid deliveries continue to pour into areas under Syrian regime control. However, there are accusations that the regime is intercepting aid and manipulating its distribution.
In mid-February, the UK issued a warning against dispatching international aid to areas under Syrian regime control, citing the risk of it falling into the wrong hands. Republican Senator Bob Menendez, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, emphasized that the Syrian regime has consistently demonstrated itself to be neither a trustworthy distributor nor an honest mediator for delivering aid to its people.
Experts knowledgeable about the Syrian conflict and aid workers have previously raised concerns about President Bashar al-Assad’s corrupt track record, which might result in a recurrence of mismanagement. This could leave over 20 million Syrians without essential assistance to endure this new calamity.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
