The Netherlands took “major risks” with the aid program for Syrian opposition groups that existed between 2015 and 2018. That concludes the Cammaert committee in a report published on Friday. The government’s goal was to provide moderate groups in Syria with pick-up trucks, communication equipment, tents and night vision goggles through the NLA (Non-Lethal Assistance) program for an amount of more than 25 million euros. These groups fought against both incumbent President Bashar al-Assad and terrorist group IS. It is now unclear who received the aid and how many groups the cabinet supported.
The Rutte III cabinet announced the independent investigation at the beginning of last year, after the House of Representatives insisted on this in response to publications by News hour and Fidelity. They reported that part of the aid would have fallen into the hands of extremists and was also intended for a group that has been designated as terrorist by the Public Prosecution Service.
The Cammaert committee does not confirm this reporting, but does conclude that it is by definition “impossible” to keep a full view of various groups in a war situation such as that in Syria. According to the committee, the House of Representatives therefore had ‘a not very explicit and realistic picture of the possibilities and risks of the NLA programme’. The committee also ruled, among other things, that the aid ‘contraries the non-intervention principle under applicable international law’, which means that states should not interfere in the internal political affairs of other states. According to the committee, the cabinet has also been “very limited” in informing the House of Representatives about the operation.