Eurasia Press & News
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to restrict humanitarian organizations operating in its areas of control in northwestern Syria.
Through its Salvation Government, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, has been seeking to fully control the humanitarian aid that is being provided to the displaced in Idlib province and parts of the countryside of Aleppo in northwest Syria.
Humanitarian organizations in these areas are facing restrictions on their work, with several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seeing their offices and warehouses stormed into and employees arrested, in a bid to strong-arm them to comply with the conditions of the Organizations Affairs Management Office, which HTS uses to extend its control over civil, humanitarian and relief works in its areas of control.
Syrian human rights activists accuse HTS of acquiring a part of the humanitarian aid provided to the displaced and imposing levies on NGOs to allow them to carry on with their work in supporting the displaced and the most vulnerable groups, which allows HTS to secure additional resources in hard currency.
A former HTS policeman, who worked in one of the organization’s precincts in the border town of Sarmada before he was expelled and imprisoned for a month because of his addiction to smoking cigarettes, talked to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. He was forced to move to live with his family in the north of Aleppo.
He said, “HTS uses several methods to control the NGOs’ work and get a share of the projects they [NGOs] implement for the displaced. First, it forces NGOs to pay a sum of money in hard currency on a monthly basis in return for them to pursue their relief work in HTS-held areas. The movement also deducts up to 10% of the relief aid offered by these NGOs.”
The source noted that HTS would then distribute the relief rations to its fighters and workers.
“When NGOs provide educational or health projects, they are forced to include some civilians or people who are ideologically loyal to HTS with the aim to improve its [HTS’] image before the community and present it as the authority that has the best interest of the residents at heart, seeking to provide job opportunities for them,” the source explained.
He added that during his work with HTS, he used to get paid $100 a month and a ration box with foodstuffs and canned food.
As HTS escalated its restrictions on the NGOs’ work over the past years, several organizations have found themselves forced to suspend their relief work in Idlib province. This was the case of the Karam Foundation, which halted its activities in the area at the beginning of 2020, along with Subul al-Salam which also announced the suspension of its work in Idlib around the same time.
These organizations refused to comply with HTS’ conditions to keep providing their relief work in the areas controlled by the group in northwest Syria.
A source from the Karam Foundation office in the Turkish town of Reyhanli told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the foundation has temporarily halted its activities in Idlib because of HTS’ conditions. He said that the foundation did not issue an official statement in this regard. But should HTS continue to impose its conditions, the Karam Foundation will announce the official closure of its offices in Idlib, according to the source.
A former employee at Subul al-Salam told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, “HTS requested us to pay $20,000 to continue with our relief work in Idlib. It also imposed the names of people affiliated with it to be part of the organization’s educational and health projects, by sending their resumes, which we considered a violation of our privacy.”
He said, “In mid-2019, our organization decided to stop abiding by these conditions, which prompted HTS to break into our warehouses in the towns of Ahsem, Ariha and Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib, seizing all contents and arresting several employees before releasing them later. This prompted the organization to halt its activities altogether.”
The source noted that HTS has recently arrested several workers of Al-Qalb al-Kabir (Big Heart) organization in Idlib (which does not have an online presence for security reasons) on charges of corruption, forcing them to pay $60,000 as a settlement before releasing the detained employees.
HTS has also circulated new demands to NGOs in Idlib and Aleppo that activists described as measures aimed at further restricting the organizations’ work and meddling in their internal affairs, prompting them to halt their activities at some point to the detriment of the displaced in the area.
Al-Monitor learned from a humanitarian organization operating in Idlib that HTS is imposing conditions on NGOs to be able to work in the areas under its control — these conditions include providing HTS with a photo of each employee moving between Idlib and Aleppo, a family civil record issued by the Salvation Government for employees who are married and an individual family extract for unmarried employees, and a copy of the work contract of the employees.
NGOs also have to send HTS copies of the projects of support for women and youth to be approved first. These projects are closely scrutinized by HTS.
Mohammed al-Yunis, originally from Idlib and currently based in France, is a former employee of Subul al-Salam. He told Al-Monitor that HTS stopped several projects that aimed at supporting women, especially camp residents, under the pretext of disseminating ideas that are contrary to HTS ideology.
He noted that HTS has recently banned all projects concerned with supporting, empowering and educating women, prosecuted several feminist activists in its area of control and closed down centers providing training, psychological support and counseling for women, notably in the city of al-Atareb in the western countryside of Aleppo.
In November 2017, the Salivation Government established the so-called Organizations Affairs Management Office, with the aim of controlling the humanitarian sector and development projects funded by foreign organizations in northern Syria, in addition to imposing levies on all relief projects and materials introduced by NGOs into the area.
HTS’ meddling in the NGOs’ work and imposing levies on their projects has greatly contributed to depriving tens of thousands of Syrians in the north and the displaced camps from support and relief aid provided by these organizations in northern Syria, where most organizations have to pay taxes on the overall value of their humanitarian projects.
