AL-HOL, Syria (news agencies) — Ahmad Abdullah Hammoud was lucky to have some food stored to feed his family after a U.S.-funded organization abruptly suspended its aid activities at the sprawling tent camp in northeastern Syria where they have been forced to stay for nearly six years.
His family is among 37,000 people, mostly women and children, with alleged ties to the Islamic State group at the bleak, trash-strewn al-Hol camp, where the Trump administration’s unprecedented freeze on foreign aid caused chaos and uncertainty and worsened the dire humanitarian conditions.
When the freeze was announced shortly after Trump took office, U.S.-funded aid programs worldwide began shutting down operations, including the organization that runs many operations at al-Hol, which works under the supervision of the U.S.-led coalition formed to fight IS.
The U.S.-based Blumont briefly suspended operations, according to the camp’s director. It had been providing essentials such as bread, water, kerosene and cooking gas. Blumont didn’t reply to questions.
“We were troubled when Blumont suspended its activities,” said Hammoud, who denies links with IS and had been sheltering in an IS-controlled area after being displaced during Syria’s civil war.
“Believe me, we did not find food. Even bread only came at 2 p.m,” said another camp resident, Dirar al-Ali.
Camp director Jihan Hanan told media that other aid agencies, including the World Health Organization, had ceased some operations.
“It is a disgraceful decision,” Hanan said of the Trump administration’s action, adding that some residents argued they should be allowed to leave if food cannot be provided.
She said Blumont distributes 5,000 bags of bread daily at a cost of about $4,000, something that local authorities in the Kurdish-run enclave cannot afford.
Hanan said Blumont received a two-week waiver from the Trump administration and resumed work on Jan. 28. It is not clear what will happen once the waiver ends.
Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that control northeastern Syria, said he has raised the aid freeze issue with officials from the U.S.-led coalition.
“We are on the verge of finding an alternative to this decision,” Abdi said, adding that an exemption might be issued for northeastern Syria.
The U.S. freeze comes as IS tries to take advantage of the vacuum created by the fall of Assad’s government in early December to insurgents. Another cut in food supplies could lead to riots by camp residents that IS, which has sleeper cells there, could exploit.
Hanan said the camp had received information from the U.S.-led coalition against IS, the Iraqi government and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led SDF, that IS was preparing to attack the camp after Assad’s fall. Security was increased and the situation is under control, she said.
The SDF runs 28 detention facilities in northeastern Syria holding some 9,000 IS members. Security at al-Hol camp and the detention facilities are not expected to be affected by the U.S. aid freeze, according to Hanan and an official at the largest detention facility in the northeastern city of Hassakeh, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
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