U.S. Waives Aid Funding Freeze at Syrian Camp Holding ISIS Fighters
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Upholding security at the camp is seen as critical to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State. A contractor that trains the police there got a temporary waiver allowing it to continue operating.
President Trump’s administration has temporarily exempted from its funding freeze a U.S. contractor supporting the police inside a Syrian desert camp that holds thousands of Islamic State members and their families, the camp’s director has said.
The reprieve underscored how securing the camp is seen as critical to helping prevent a resurgence of ISIS, a jihadist group, at a time when the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has thrown the country into flux and added to instability in the Middle East.
The contractor, Proximity International, was forced to halt operations after Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order last week for all foreign aid programs. Proximity International runs a program that trains and equips local security forces in northeastern Syria. The police it trains provide security inside Al Hol, a camp that houses some 39,000 ISIS members, their families and refugees.
The Trump administration has argued that the funding freeze, set to last 90 days, is needed to examine whether U.S. funds are being wasted. “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement last month. “Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
Proximity International had requested an exemption from the freeze, arguing that its work does make America safer, according to a person familiar with the program, who asked not to be identified because of the ongoing uncertainty around U.S. funding. Al Hol is seen as a key target for ISIS recruitment and operations, and maintaining security there is viewed as important to keeping the jihadist group at bay.
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