For more than a decade, the United Nations publicly portrayed itself as a neutral humanitarian actor navigating the complexities of Syria’s civil war. Yet buried deep inside a dimly lit hallway of an unremarkable Damascus shopping center sat a company that quietly exposed a troubling contradiction at the heart of the UN’s operations. This company – Shorouk for Protection, Guarding and Security Services – was not simply another local contractor in a war-torn country. According to a vast trove of leaked documents, Shorouk was secretly owned and directed by one of the Syrian regime’s most feared intelligence agencies, even as it collected at least $11 million from UN agencies.

The revelations, uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and partners in their “Damascus Dossier” investigation, show that UN agencies continued awarding Shorouk contracts long after warnings emerged about its ties to Assad’s security apparatus – the same apparatus responsible for torture, disappearances, and mass repression throughout Syria’s civil war. The story demonstrates how international aid money can become entangled in authoritarian systems, allowing oppressive regimes to profit from global humanitarian efforts while simultaneously surveilling and controlling those who attempt to help.

Shorouk’s official office hardly reflected the influence it wielded. Tucked at the end of an unlit fourth-floor corridor, monitored by a discreet camera, it served as the administrative hub of a company that safeguarded UN buildings across Syria – from the famous Four Seasons Hotel, which became the de facto UN headquarters, to various field hubs.

To outward appearances, Shorouk was a legitimate private security enterprise. Its website boasted of 2,000 employees and a roster of high-profile contracts. But internal documents obtained by ICIJ show that Shorouk was in fact under the direct control of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), one of the Syrian regime’s most brutal arms of power.

The GID has long been associated with enforced disappearances, systematic torture, and extrajudicial killings. UN reports themselves repeatedly documented these abuses. Yet shockingly, many UN agencies were hiring a company secretly “owned and controlled” by this very entity.

Between 2014 and 2024, UN agencies signed more than 130 security contracts and purchase orders with Shorouk. The UN Development Programme alone paid the firm at least $9 million. Additional payments came from the World Health........

© Blitz