Sanctions imposed by US and allies hamper relief and rescue work in earthquake-devastated Syria
Over 5,000 people have been reported dead so far and thousands more injured in Turkey and Syria in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday
The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, demanded on Tuesday, February 7, that Western countries, specifically the US and its allies, lift their siege and sanctions on Syria so that rescue and relief work can proceed unimpeded, after the country was devastated by a powerful earthquake on Monday.
“We need heavy equipment, ambulances and fire fighting vehicles to continue to rescue and remove the rubble, and this entails lifting sanctions on Syria as soon as possible,” Hboubati said at a press conference on Tuesday, as reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
A powerful earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.8 struck Turkey and Syria on Monday. Over 5,000 people have been reported dead so far. In Syria alone the death toll was 1,602 on Monday. These numbers are only expected to rise as a large number of people are suspected to be still buried under the debris of houses that collapsed in the earthquake and its aftershocks.
Kahramanmaraş, a city in Turkey, was reported to be the epicenter of the earthquake, and the nearby city of Gaziantep—home to millions of Syrian refugees—was reportedly hit the hardest. Relief and rescue operations in Turkey have been affected by bad weather as several of the affected areas have received heavy rain and snowfall on Monday and Tuesday.
Syria’s northern provinces such as Idlib, Latakia, Hama, and Aleppo have also been badly affected by the earthquake. Some of the affected areas in Idlib and Aleppo are under rebel control and densely populated by refugees from other parts of the country.
Though several countries including the US and its allies have extended their support to Turkey in its relief and rescue work, they have refused to extend similar assistance to Syria. The US State Department made it clear on Monday that it was only willing to support some work carried out in Syria by NGOs, but that it would have no dealings with the Bashar al-Assad government. “It would be quite ironic—if not even counterproductive—for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
On Monday, the Syrian government had issued an appeal to the international community asking for help. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad is quoted in Al-Mayadeen as having said that his government was willing “to provide all the required facilities to international organizations so they can give Syrians humanitarian aid.”
Sanctions hamper relief and rescue work
Claiming that “Current US sanctions severely restrict aid assistance to millions of Syrians,” the American Arab anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) asked the US government on Monday to lift its sanctions. While it said that the NGOs working on the ground were doing a commendable job, it also said that the “lifting of the sanctions will open the doors for additional and supplemental aid that will provide immediate relief to those in need.”
The US Congress had adopted the so-called Caesar Act in 2020, according to which any group or company doing business with the Syrian government faces sanctions. The act extends the scope of the previously existing sanctions on Syria, imposed by the US and its European allies since the beginning of the war in the country in 2011.
The impact of sanctions on Syria’s health and other social sectors and its overall economic recovery have been criticized by the UN on several occasions in the past. The UN has also demanded that all unilateral punitive measures against Syria be lifted.
Meanwhile, countries such as China, Iran, Russia, Cuba, Algeria, and the UAE, among others, have expressed their willingness to provide necessary support to Syria, and have sent relief materials already.
Al-Mayadeen has however reported that the delivery of international aid, as well as the speed of relief and rescue work in Syria, continue to be impeded as the Damascus international airport is not fully operational at the moment. The airport was hit by an Israeli missile on January 2 and repair work is not yet complete.
Cuba, Venezuela and China are rushing aid to earthquake-hit Syria. US can’t even fully withdraw sanctions
The US Treasury has issued a 180-day waiver on certain sanctions imposed on Syria to allow for earthquake relief. However, the US and its allies have yet to offer meaningful assistance to Syria even as Venezuela, China, Palestine, and others have dispatched aid and specialists
On Thursday, February 9, the United States Treasury Department announced a temporary waiver of certain sanctions imposed on Syria to facilitate relief and recovery efforts in the earthquake-hit country. The move follows growing international outrage and public appeals, including by the Syrian government and countries such as Venezuela and China, to remove the brutal and illegal sanctions that the US has imposed on Damascus.
At least 21,719 people have died—as of February 10—after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 devastated large parts of southern and central Turkey as well as northern and western Syria. Over 79,000 people have been injured and over 3.7 million have been displaced since then, with rescue operations still underway in search of survivors in the midst of aftershocks.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a “blanket” Syria General License (GL) 23, “which authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SySR).”
Addressing a joint press conference at the United Nations headquarters on February 7, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bassam al-Sabbagh explained how sanctions were impeding humanitarian relief and access: “Lots of cargo planes refuse to land at Syrian airports because of the American and European sanctions. So, even those countries who want to send humanitarian assistance, they cannot use the airplane cargo because of the sanctions.”
The head of the Syrian Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, stated during a press conference on Tuesday that “There is no fuel even to send [aid and rescue] convoys, and this is because of the blockade and sanctions.”
Meanwhile, in its statement on February 9, the US government reiterated that its sanctions do not target “legitimate humanitarian assistance”—a claim proven false in other countries that have also been targeted by US sanctions. The risk of obstruction of humanitarian aid is also heightened due to possible overcompliance, and particularly in the case of Syria due to the “unfettered emergency powers” and “extraterritorial reach” granted under the US’s Caesar Act.
The US claims that GSL 23 “expands upon” the “broad humanitarian authorizations already in effect under the SySR for NGOs, international organizations (IOs) and the US government.”
However, over the past week, people on social media platforms have reported that US-based fundraising company GoFundMe was suspending accounts that were attempting to raise money for Syria.
Countries dispatch aid to Syria and Turkey
While the US and its allies rushed to mobilize and dispatch rescue teams and supplies to Turkey, they have dragged their feet to provide even the bare minimum aid for Syria by refusing to meaningfully lift sanctions to allow aid to reach the country. Despite this, there are countries around the world that have been providing critical on-ground assistance to both Syria and Turkey.
On Thursday, 25 specialists part of the Simon Bolivar Humanitarian Task Force arrived from Venezuela to Damascus accompanied by 12 tonnes of medicine, drinking water, and food. A day prior, the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had dispatched 52 specialists to Turkey and Syria to assist with relief efforts.
A team of Cuban doctors from the Henry Reeve International Brigade has also arrived in Turkey. On Wednesday, Syria’s ambassador to Cuba Ghassan Obeid confirmed that 27 doctors from Cuba will also arrive in Syria soon to assist affected populations and local authorities.
China announced that it will be providing the first tranche of $5.9 million in emergency aid to Turkey. Beijing also dispatched an 82-member rescue team that arrived in Turkey’s Adana airport on Tuesday, bringing with them 20 tonnes of medical aid and rescue supplies.
On Thursday, China’s ambassador to Syria Shi Hongwei told CGTN that the first Chinese rescue team had arrived in Damascus, accompanied by an initial batch of medical supplies. A spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry had announced on Wednesday that China will offer USD 4.4 million in emergency aid to Syria.
A team of 73 rescuers, including members of the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Civil Defense, headed by the Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), left for Jordan from the Occupied West Bank on Thursday, from where they will be divided into two teams—one headed to southern Turkey and another headed to northwest Syria.
Russia had dispatched four aircrafts on Monday with over 100 emergency response specialists, including medics to assist in search and rescue operations in Turkey and Syria. Algeria also sent over 100 tonnes of medical supplies, food, and tents, as well as a Civil Protection team that arrived in Aleppo earlier this week. India has also dispatched aid supplies to Syria, along with dispatching rescue teams to Turkey.
Countries including Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, and Tunisia have also provided emergency assistance and supplies, even as various other countries have expressed messages of solidarity.
The UN has stressed that sanctions should not prevent the delivery of assistance to the Syrian people. According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), 14 humanitarian aid trucks had crossed into northwestern Syria on Friday, bound for rebel-held Idlib.
From Iran, the sixth plane carrying humanitarian aid, including infant formula and food, was reported to have landed in Syria early on Friday. The Iranian army and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have also dispatched equipment for a 50-bed mobile hospital along with 70 relief and medical staff to Turkey.
The first Iranian plane had landed in Damascus on Tuesday, carrying 45 tonnes of food and medical supplies. Iran has also sent planes carrying aid to Latakia and Aleppo—where IRGC commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani arrived late on February 8 to supervise aid delivery.
Meanwhile, Israel has already threatened a military attack, with an unnamed military official citing “information” that “indicated” that Iran might “take advantage” of the situation and send weapons along with humanitarian aid to Syria.
Israel has continued to carry out illegal and unilateral acts of aggression against Syria, including airstrikes that have killed numerous civilians and caused damage to critical infrastructure. According to Al Mayadeen, the airport in Damascus, which has been repeatedly targeted in such attacks, is reportedly still undergoing repairs after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in January.
Sanctions on Syria
The urgent need for the removal of illegal sanctions on Syria is not limited to the immediate earthquake recovery efforts. The fact is that Western sanctions had already precipitated an economic and infrastructural collapse in Syria well before the earthquake hit this week.
In November 2022, following a visit to the country, UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan described the impact of the “outrageous” and “long-lasting” unilateral sanctions that were “suffocating” millions of Syrians. Douhan stated that 90% of Syria’s population was living below the poverty line, and access to food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, transportation, and healthcare were limited. She added that more than half of the country’s vital infrastructure had either been completely destroyed or was severely damaged.
At the same time, unilateral sanctions on key sectors including oil, gas, electricity, and trade had “quashed” the national income and undermined efforts towards economic recovery and reconstruction.
“Maintaining unilateral sanctions amid the current catastrophic and still-deteriorating situation in Syria may amount to crimes against humanity against all Syrians,” Douhan had warned.
Threats to public health and food security have been heightened due to the unavailability of equipment and spare parts to fix water distribution and irrigation systems. There are acute disruptions in access to electricity, which have also impacted the functioning of medical equipment in hospitals.
As the US boasts of its “commitment to support the people of Syria through their ongoing earthquake crisis,” the question arises: what does a 180-day waiver on earthquake relief transactions actually achieve in the face of this level of destruction?
As Syria looks towards long-term reconstruction and recovery, any commitments of support or assistance are rendered meaningless in the absence of the total lifting of the illegal and inhumane sanctions that continue to choke the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment