Activists Say Syrian Opposition Is Mismanaging Refugee Relief
Activists and relief workers on the ground in Syria, Lebanon and beyond accuse the Syrian National Council (SNC) of mismanagement of aid money and failing to carry out its duty towards the Syrian people, reports Salam Hafez, as the humanitarian situation deteriorates.
TRIPOLI — Well into the second year of the Syrian revolution, activists and relief workers on the ground in Syria and Lebanon have accused the Syrian National Council (SNC) of mismanagement of aid money and failing to carry out its duty towards the Syrian people, including minorities who are willing to defect as the humanitarian situation deteriorates in both countries.
With intense battles raging across Syria, activists say smuggling out the injured to neighboring countries is becoming an impossible task as the number of refugees in Lebanon nears 70,000, the highest since the start of the revolution.
Abu Raaed, head of the newly created Office for Humanitarian Relief in Lebanon, which split from SNC’s Turkish central command last week, launched a scathing attack on the SNC. He accused the organization of “failing to understand the realities on the ground” and “being out of touch with the Syrian people and not providing the necessary means to help Syrian refugees” — cries mirrored by other activists from inside the country.
The SNC has been beset by internal divisions, lack of transparency and doubts about the quality of its leaders from the onset. But grassroots-level activists have started to voice their concerns. “We have split from the Turkish office. After 14 months we have realized that the central system we were working under has failed us. It got to a stage where the office in Turkey was sending $50,000, but what we need [to care for all the refugees] on a monthly basis surpasses the $300,000 mark,” Raaed said in his attack against the SNC-run Relief and Development Bureau in Turkey. Several attempts to reach representatives from the SNC were made, but not answered.
