IDPs in Syria’s Raqqa criticize NGO distribution mechanisms
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Displaced people in Raqqa, northern Syria, accuse humanitarian workers and aid distributors of using mechanisms that limit their ability to benefit from humanitarian aid.
Jassem al-Thalaj, who was displaced from the countryside of Deir ez-Zor to Dahmoush Camp eight kilometers south of Raqqa, said that he received an allowance from the Concern Worldwide Organization on the 28th of February.
“Concern came and gave us a 346,000 SYP allowance to spend on upholstery; if they gave it to us in cash it would be better,” al-Thalaj said.
“We would buy flour, sugar, cooking oil, and soap. It would be more useful,” he added.
He indicated that the home furniture that he obtained through the card was of very poor quality. “We bought stuff with it; they were low quality things that didn’t equal 200,000 SYP.”
Khalaf al-Sayed, another IDP, preferred a purchase card from the organization that enables him to buy what he needs.
“The organization distributed an allowance card equaling 346,000 SYP. 346,000 SYP…you think that it is a big amount of money, but it is nothing.”
“We bought a rug, a mat, a curtain, blankets, a tent, and a tarp,” he said.
He accused the shopkeepers with whom the organizations had contracted of supplying goods of low quality in order to make a higher profit.
Khaled al-Rajab, a displaced person from the countryside of Homs living in a random camp in the Kabash area, 40 km north of Raqqa, said, “Staff of the same organization provided purchase cards to 150 families and left more than two hundred other families after conducting a random evaluation.”
“There are dozens of camp residents who cannot afford bread for their children, and despite that, the organization did not target them,” he said.
Samer Nashif, head of the Organizations Office of the Raqqa Civil Council, said that granting organizations licensed by the Autonomous Administration with work permits is in accordance with a memorandum of understanding.
He added that they can only play a monitoring role in the event of violations of the conditions or complaints.