Syrian State media is proclaiming “joint cooperation” between Oxfam International, one of the world’s largest relief agencies, and the Assad regime.
State news agency SANA headlines a meeting on Sunday between Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Mikdad and an Oxfam delegation including chief executive Mark Goldring. The discussion was “to enhance joint cooperation in relief work, particularly in projects related to health and water purification and the possibility of future cooperation in other fields”.
Oxfam is a confederation of 17 organizations working in more than 90 countries to find solutions to poverty and injustice.
Mikdad thanked Oxfam for its efforts in Syria, “stressing the importance of the organization’ independent work and the need for it to continue to carry out its missions”. He declared that the Assad regime is keen on cooperation with international organizations and NGOs who “are interested in helping the Syrian government to provide basic services for Syrian citizens”.
The United Nations and other international organizations have repeatedly criticized the regime for blocking humanitarian aid during Syria’s four-year conflict, with the Syrian military enforcing sieges on rebel-held areas.
Last month, the UN’s top humanitarian official, Valerie Amos, denounced the Syrian military’s bombing and said:
People are trying to survive by the day, without the basic necessities of life such as water and electricity. And parties to the conflict continue to cut services, collectively punishing entire villages and cities in the process.
#Syria: UN SecCo must help protect civilians, ensure conflict parties grant humanitarian access, bring an end to sieges &hold ppl to account
— Valerie Amos (@ValerieAmos) May 29, 2015
The Assad regime has also been accused of taking UN aid and holding it in military bases, with rebels finding large stockpiles of assistance in regime positions they have recently captured in Idlib Province in northwest Syria.
SANA does not mention these concerns as it says that Oxfam’s Goldring “expressed satisfaction over the current cooperation between both sides and his hope to expand OXFAM projects in Syria to include other sectors like education and building capabilities”.
Oxfam International has not published a statement about the meeting.
Goldring speaking from a refugee camp in Jordan in May 2013: