USAID’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated an investigation into allegations that bread provided under a USAID award was diverted from the intended beneficiaries—the refugee families of Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian fighters—located in the al-Hol Camp in Northeast Syria. OIG found that the Asayish (Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria) and the al-Hol Camp Administration diverted the aid from the intended beneficiaries to themselves.
OIG found that between February 2019 and March 2023, the Camp Administration set security restrictions at the al-Hol Camp that prevented the USAID awardee from physically accessing beneficiaries. The awardee was forced to rely on the Asayish and the Camp Administration to deliver bread within the inaccessible areas of the camp, which created the opportunity for the initial diversion. However, once the awardee received full access to the camp, the Asayish and the Camp Administration continued to divert the USAID-funded bread.
OIG completed its investigation and referred the findings to USAID. USAID informed OIG that it had already disallowed $17,490 in costs from the awardee, which was responsible for safeguarding the USAID-funded assistance. USAID also communicated to all of its operational awardees across Syria that allegations related to diversion, fraud, waste, and abuse of U.S. resources must be reported to USAID OIG.