Blinken: Assad regime’s ‘systemic corruption, economic mismanagement have exacerbated dire humanitarian crisis’ US envoy to UN: Aid will benefit those in need in Syria, neighboring countries CHICAGO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced nearly $600 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria. Blinken made the announcement during a conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” in Brussels. “There is no military solution that will bring peace, security, and stability to Syria, and the region,” he said in a statement. “Systemic corruption and economic mismanagement at the hands of the Assad regime have exacerbated the dire humanitarian crisis, which has been further compounded by the challenge of COVID-19.” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a press briefing attended by Arab News on Tuesday: “This funding brings the total US government humanitarian assistance to nearly $13 billion since the start of the decade-long crisis, including nearly $141 million in support of the COVID-19 pandemic response in Syria and the region.” She added: “US assistance will benefit many of the estimated 13.4 million Syrians inside Syria in need of humanitarian assistance, as well as 5.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.” Richard Albright, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said 75 percent of the more than 4 million displaced Syrians in the northwest of the country depend on humanitarian aid to survive. “Our assistance doesn’t go to governments. It goes to people who depend on it … The assistance flows through UN agencies and NGOs,” he added.