A United Nations watchdog group released a report accusing the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees of stealing and hoarding aid intended for the Gaza Strip.
The information comes from a chatroom run by former UNRWA employee Haitham al Sayyed, who is believed to have been fired from the organization in 2016 after he publicly called out the agency for hiding a UNRWA school map denying the existence of Israel.
According to the report, he still holds some sway among the group, and staff members expressed their frustration with current leadership to him in the chat room to try and get him to sway the leadership to crack down on corruption.
Among the allegations made by the employees was the stealing and hoarding of aid by leadership and employees. The employees allegedly said they brought their complaints to the attention of leadership many times but were ignored.
“What we witnessed with our own eyes in the shelters that we passed through and what we heard from reliable, friendly sources is that the workers in the shelters have their homes full of aid and not only them but their loved ones with them,” one employee allegedly said. “Eighty percent of the employees in the shelters that I passed by have no morals or dignity, and they are only concerned with themselves and their loved ones.”
Another allegation of theft and retaliation was given in the case of baby Pampers. An employee said they “were surprised the next day that 150 bags were distributed at night and some of the displaced people did not get their right to it, and everyone who speaks is transferred.”
In another case, an employee reported that their school was without power for over a month after someone kept stealing the fuel for it. After the thief was caught, the principal didn’t remove him.
Others were alleged to have stolen food and sold it for extra money.
“The director of a school warehouse came now with 50 cartons of food that were distributed in UNRWA schools and sold them to a merchant for 350 shekels per carton, equivalent to $100,” an alleged employee said. “How did he take out this amount of cartons? Where is the administration about this?”
The organization that uncovered the chatlogs, U.N. Watch, is a watchdog with close ties to Israel, according to AFP and the Economist.
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UNRWA has come under unprecedented criticism during the current war in Gaza, with the Israeli government accusing many of its members of having ties with Hamas. The United States and other countries suspended funding to the agency after news emerged of its alleged connections to Hamas.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson led 22 other states in a letter to congressional leadership demanding the U.S. “completely” defund the UNRWA over its alleged ties to Hamas.