'Do you have communist links?' US sends 36 questions to UN aid groups

United Nations assistance agencies person been sent questionnaires by the US asking them to authorities if they person "anti-American" beliefs oregon affiliations.

Among the 36 questions connected the form, sent by the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and seen by the BBC, is 1 asking if they person immoderate links to communism.

Some of the world's biggest humanitarian organisations person received the questionnaire, including the UN Refugee Agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Trump medication has launched a cost-cutting thrust crossed the US government, led by billionaire Elon Musk, and has closed down overmuch of its overseas aid.

The UN groups fearfulness the determination by the OMB is simply a motion the US is readying to wantonness humanitarian enactment - oregon adjacent the UN itself - altogether.

The US pulled retired of the World Health Organization connected the archetypal time of President Donald Trump's 2nd term.

And this week Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the immense bulk of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) programmes had been terminated.

Surveys bespeak that most Americans judge the state overspends connected overseas aid.

The US spends a little % of its GDP connected assistance than European countries but, due to the fact that of its immense economy, inactive supplies 40% of planetary humanitarian funding

Many of the UN assistance agencies who were sent the signifier person funding, not conscionable from USAID, but straight from the US government.

One question asks: ''Can you corroborate that your organisation does not enactment with entities associated with communist, socialist, oregon totalitarian parties, oregon immoderate enactment that espouses anti-American beliefs?"

Another asks agencies to corroborate they don't person immoderate backing from China, Russia, Cuba oregon Iran - these countries whitethorn not beryllium Washington's champion friends but, similar each 193 UN subordinate states, they money the large humanitarian agencies.

Other questions inquire assistance agencies to guarantee nary task includes immoderate elements of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) oregon thing related to clime change.

This could beryllium awkward for agencies similar Unicef, which supports adjacent entree to acquisition for girls, oregon the World Food Programme, which tries to forestall famine by supporting drought affected communities to modulation to much clime resilient crops.

Professor Karl Blanchet, of Geneva University's Centre for Humanitarian Studies, believes the assistance agencies are being acceptable up to fail: "The determination has already been made. It's highly apt the US is going to halt its engagement successful immoderate UN system.

"It's multilateralism versus America archetypal - these are 2 ends of a spectrum."

Aid agencies moving connected analyzable humanitarian operations are much blunt.

"It's similar being asked 'have you stopped beating your child, yes oregon no?'" said 1 frustrated assistance worker.

UN Human Rights has already chosen not to capable retired the form.

"Given they were mostly yes/no questions with precise constricted country for elaboration, and that immoderate of the questions were not applicable to the UN, we were not successful a presumption to reply straight to the online questionnaires," a spokesperson told the BBC.

"Instead, we provided replies by email with explanations to those questions wherever we could supply a response."

Some of the questions besides bespeak the economical interests of President Trump's administration.

There is simply a query astir projects which mightiness impact "efforts to fortify US proviso chains oregon unafraid uncommon world minerals".

The BBC has approached the OMB and the US missions astatine the United Nations successful New York and Geneva for comment.