U.S.-BASED NGOS IN SYRIA COMPLAIN ABOUT DIFFICULT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000776

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR LORD, PARIS FOR NOBLES
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ANE, NEA/ELA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2019
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL SY
SUBJECT: U.S.-BASED NGOS IN SYRIA COMPLAIN ABOUT DIFFICULT
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

REF: A. DAMASCUS 766

B. 08 DAMASCUS 233

Classified By: CDA Chuck Hunter for reasons 1.4 b, d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Country Directors of three of the four
U.S.-based NGOs in Syria told us in a joint meeting on
November 2 they continue to face significant challenges in
operating in the country. Hussien Ibrahim of International
Medical Corps (IMC),Gordana Ivkovic-Grujic of International
Rescue Committee (IRC),and Evelyn Zakhary of Mercy Corps
said working in Syria has always been difficult for NGOs, but
that three recent developments are further complicating their
work: 1) the lack of implementation of Decree 34, issued by
the SARG in December 2008 to specify procedures for NGOs to
register and operate in Syria; 2) the withdrawal of several
NGOs from Syria after failing to reach memorandums of
understanding with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC); and
3) increased difficulties in obtaining visas for
international staff. The country directors added that
tension between the SARC and various ministries over which
government entities control NGO operations in the country is
posing additional problems. END SUMMARY.

"WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RULES ARE"


2. (C) The country directors of IMC, IRC, and Mercy Corps
told us on November 2 the normally difficult operating
environment for NGOs in Syria is becoming increasingly
challenging due to several recent developments. "Working in
Syria is an operational nightmare and more difficult than any
other country I've been in," the IRC's Ivkovic-Grujic said.
Foremost among their concerns is the SARG's continuing
failure to implement Decree 34, issued in December 2008 to
specify how NGOs can register and operate in Syria.


3. (C) As a result, the country directors reported, some NGOs
are operating under memorandums of understanding with the
Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) while others are told they
must abide by rules provided them by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) or other ministries. The result is
inconsistent treatment by the SARG of NGOs operating in Syria
and confusion on the part of NGOs. "We don't know what the
rules are," Ivkovic-Grujic lamented. "One day they tell me I
need the Ministry of Education to approve something, and then
the Ministry of Education tells me to go to the MFA. Decree
34 was supposed to solve this," she added.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT SARC OVERSIGHT


4. (C) Both Gordana Ivkovic-Grujic and IMC's Hussien Ibrahim
criticized the SARC for the control it holds over many NGOs
operating in Syria. Any NGO seeking to work here must obtain
SARC permission by submitting proposed projects, sources of
funding, and resource needs. The SARC normally takes a
minimum of 4-6 weeks to review; unless the project has been
worked out in advance, most proposals end up being rejected
or delayed while NGOs answer questions and resubmit their
proposals, starting all over. "If you don't partner with a
specific ministry, then you get the SARC and that's
difficult," Ibrahim declared. He added the SARC sometimes
engages in power struggles with various ministries regarding
oversight of NGOs. The country directors attributed the
SARC's actions to the ambitions of SARC President Abdul
Rahman Attar. "He's a big personality, and one of the
richest, most powerful men in Syria and he doesn't want to
lose control over NGOs to the MFA or any other ministry,"
Ibrahim concluded.


5. (C) Ibrahim said the SARC also imposes stricter caps on
the number of international staff NGOs can hire; the SARC
also insists on low salary caps for Syrian employees that
make it difficult for NGOs to retain local staff. "Those
NGOs that are lucky enough to operate outside SARC, like the
Agha Khan Foundation, can pay their employees more, and then
those organizations get all the best local talent," he
complained.


6. (C) "We are having problems with the SARC and Attar right
now," Ivkovic-Grujic agreed. She said approval for several
IRC programs has been held up for months, with no official
explanation. Friends in SARC told her IRC was being
"investigated" because it was one of 14 NGOs expelled from
Darfour by the Sudanese government. Ivkovic-Grujic related
that she wrote a letter to Attar asking for assistance but
received little help. She said she recently heard IRC has
been "cleared" by SARG officials looking into the
organization's expulsion from Sudan, and hopes her programs
will be approved shortly. The IRC Board of Directors visited

DAMASCUS 00000776 002 OF 003


Syria last week and met with Attar (ref. A). Ivkovic-Grujic
reported the meetings went well and Attar promised to help,
but she said she is frustrated with the SARC's oversight. "I
have to keep getting no-cost extensions for my programs
because the SARC won't help us," she said.


7. (C) Mercy Corps' Zakhary said her organization decided to
avoid SARC oversight altogether by working with several
ministries and local partners. When Ibrahim and
Ivkovic-Grujic asked Zakhary how Mercy Corps managed to avoid
the SARC umbrella, she said: "We were able to do this through
the help of important local contacts." (NOTE: Mercy Corps
focuses its programs on IT training and is partnered with the
Syrian Computer Society, a government-approved NGO once
headed by President al-Asad. END NOTE.) But Zakhary added
NGOs who choose to work outside SARC pay a price. "The
United Nations and its organizations will not work with us,
and we won't get any funding from them unless we are under
the SARC umbrella," she explained. On balance, however,
Zakhary concluded Mercy Corps still prefers to work outside
SARC.


8. (C) They agreed many NGOs would prefer that the SARG
implemented Decree 34 and a uniform system of NGO
registration and operation. They said many NGO country
directors would prefer to work with MFA Director of
International Organizations Milad Atieh, but SARC and Attar
resist their efforts to do so. "For the moment, SARC is
really the only player for us," Ivkovic-Grujic concluded.
The country directors added they are trying to gain leverage
over Attar due to his candidacy for the presidency of the
Committee of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent (ICRC).
They believe Attar is currently trying to curry favor with
foreign governments to support his candidacy, and that he
might therefore be more inclined to assist NGOs. (NOTE: CDA
received a letter in September from Attar seeking USG support
for his candidacy. END NOTE.)

WITHDRAWAL OF NGOs CAUSES CONCERN


9. (C) The country directors said NGOs are also concerned
about the recent withdrawal of several NGOs which could not
reach a memorandum of understanding with SARC or were not
otherwise allowed to register with another partner. The
German NGO Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) announced at an
October meeting at UNHCR headquarters that it is withdrawing
from Syria after waiting a year without success to complete a
memorandum of understanding with the SARC. Citing
withdrawals by other NGOs like Save the Children Sweden for
similar reasons, the country directors said other NGOs were
concerned about their own organizations as well. Last year,
Save the Children UK and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
announced their withdrawal from continuing negotiations with
the SARC over a memorandum of understanding and abandoned
operations in Syria (ref. B). "For those NGOs who don't have
a memorandum of understanding, they know they might have to
leave at any time. And for those of us who are registered,
we worry that at any time it could be pulled from us,"
Ivkovic-Grujic said.


10. (C) Compounding these concerns is the persistent
complaint by NGOs that the SARG delays visa issuances for
expatriate staff. Each of the country directors reported
difficulties this year in obtaining visas for foreign staff
or visitors. Ivkovic-Grujic said she is still waiting to
receive an extension on her expired visa. "Technically, I am
here illegally, but every week they tell me my visa is coming
and then I get nothing," she said. She added contacts in the
MFA told her last week her new visa will be granted shortly,
and she is optimistic in the wake of the IRC Board's visit to
Syria. While the country directors conceded visas are a
persistent complaint from NGOs operating in Syria, they
insisted that the problem is either not improving or is
getting worse.


11. (C) COMMENT: Two years ago, only a handful of
international NGOs began working on Iraq refugee assistance
projects. Now, 14 such entities are operating here. This
quantum leap of NGO presence, however, does not necessarily
portend continuing growth. The Syrian government's reflexive
instincts for micromanaging and maintaining control reflects
decades of built-up mistrust for foreign entities operating
in Syria. The continuing operations of the three largest
US-based NGOs operating in Syria, and three of the most
significant NGO partners of the USG globally, represent
progress of a sort, but their common struggle underscores the
difficulty with which NGOs carry out their valuable work in
Syria. Our message to SARG interlocutors has been to stress
the overwhelmingly positive Syrian response to the Iraqi

DAMASCUS 00000776 003 OF 003


refugee challenge and to recognize the positive contributions
U.S. and other international NGOs here are making in the
humanitarian field as well as to the well-being of Syrians
themselves. Syria's desire for increased recognition of its
own contributions and for international assistance with
drought relief and other challenges will require further
adjustments to policies and procedures for managing NGOs.
SARG implementation of a uniform system of NGO registration
and oversight, through Decree 34 or some other mechanism,
would likely improve the situation but not altogether end the
challenges these NGOs face. END COMMENT.

HUNTER