The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday it had suspended all U.S. aid to the federal government of Somalia amid allegations that Somali officials destroyed a U.S.-funded warehouse belonging to the World Food Program and confiscated 76 tons of supplies. Providing food aid to poor civilians.
“The Trump administration has a zero-tolerance policy against waste, theft and the diversion of life-saving assistance,” the department said in a statement.
“The State Department has suspended all ongoing U.S. assistance programs that benefit the federal government of Somalia,” the statement said. “Any resumption of assistance will be contingent on the federal government of Somalia taking responsibility for its unacceptable behavior and taking appropriate remedial measures.”
The suspension comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to Criticism of Somali refugees and immigrants In the United States, including the well-known Fraud charges involving child care centers in Minnesota. has caused a major blow Restrictions on Somalis who want to come to the United States And make it difficult for those already in the United States to stay.
It’s unclear how much aid will be affected by the suspension, as the Trump administration cuts foreign aid spending, Disband USAID And no new country-specific data was released.
In the last year of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States provided $770 million in aid for Somalia projects, but only a fraction of that went directly to the government.
A senior State Department official said Wednesday that the department is “conducting a thoughtful and individualized review to determine which ongoing assistance programs directly or indirectly benefit the federal government of Somalia and taking appropriate action to suspend, adjust, or terminate such programs.”
Somalia has long been a “black hole of poor U.S. aid oversight,” and the Trump administration is taking steps to end fraud-prone programs there, the official said.
The official said Mogadishu port authorities dismantled the WFP warehouse on the orders of President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed “without prior notification or coordination with international donors, including the United States” and the government ordered a halt to the project.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private reports from U.S. diplomats in the region.
Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world and already Troubled by long-term conflicts Over the decades, multiple natural disasters, including severe droughts, have exacerbated insecurity.