UN hired Assad’s friends to deliver aid

The UN hired friends and associates of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as part of relief operations in the country, the Guardian newspaper revealed today.

The paper said relatives of high-ranking ministers have been listed on the payroll of the UNHCR and World Health Organisation (WHO).

A former UN manager told the paper that every UN agency has at least “one person who is a direct relative of a Syrian official.”

However, a UN spokesperson said employees who had links to the Assad regime did not hinder the organisation’s work, adding that “family connections are not taken into consideration nor investigated” when hiring staff. Political affiliations are also not taken into account when staff are hired, he explained.

This is not the first time the UN has met controversy regarding its dealing with Al-Assad’s close allies. In August, the Guardian also revealed that tens of millions of dollars was paid by the UN to people closely associated with the Syrian president as part of an aid programme.