More than 70 humanitarian organisations are accusing the United Nations of allowing the Syrian government to manipulate relief efforts and deprive thousands in besieged areas of help.
The aid groups working in Syria and neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have announced in a letter to the UN humanitarian office in Turkey that they are suspending participation in an information-sharing program aimed at improving aid delivery.
This is "a first step in response to the political influence of the Syrian government and the inaction of UN agencies and other humanitarian actors based in Damascus,'' the letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, says.
The 73 groups, which say they provide humanitarian assistance to over seven million Syrians including over six million in the country, also called for an investigation into criticism in the media of the UN performance in Damascus.
Britain's Guardian newspaper reported last week that the UN has awarded contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to people closely associated with President Bashar Assad including groups set up by his wife, Asma, and cousin, Rami Makhlouf, who is one of Syria's most prominent and wealthy businessmen.
"The Syrian government has interfered with the delivery of humanitarian assistance in multiple instances, including the blocking of aid to besieged areas,'' the aid groups said.
"This deliberate manipulation by the Syrian government and the complacency of the UN have played hand-in-hand. The people of Syria have suffered even more as a result.''
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stressed that the United Nations works in partnership with its 193 member states and continues to deliver aid to millions of Syrians on all sides of the conflict.
The Syrian government, like a number of other countries, insists that the UN work with a list of authorised partners and it chooses from the list for supplies such as mobile phone service and fuel, he said.
In areas not under government control, it works with local partners that may not be on the government list, he said.
