When a catastrophic earthquake struck Syria last month, President Bashar al-Assad did not declare a state of emergency. Days passed before he visited the affected areas.
However, from day one, his government called for the lifting of Western sanctions.
The US resisted at first. But then Washington relaxed banking restrictions for six months. Europe followed suit.
The quake on February 6 has already been a political blessing for Assad, as Arab leaders who once shunned him sent condolences and assistance. Now, the relaxation of sanctions raises concerns that the President and his inner circle could reap economic benefits that can be used to shore up his support.
The Syrian government has been the target of sanctions following human rights violations during the country’s 12-year civil war. Opponents of the government worry that the easing of sanctions could be the start of al-Assad’s fuller reintegration into the international community with virtually zero consequences for abuses.
Experts indicated that the relaxation of sanctions was not even necessary given the current exemptions for humanitarian aid. However, a US State Department spokesman said European and Arab states and aid groups had expressed concern that sanctions could prevent them from offering assistance.
Many banks have refused to process transactions with Syria for fear of breaching the sanctions, even though they are subject to the exemptions.
Although the sanctions seek to punish the government and military officials, they affect entire sectors of the economy and many ordinary Syrians.
The quake claimed at least 6,000 lives in northwestern Syria and more than 45,000 in neighboring Turkey. It affected nearly 11 million people in Syria, including some 4 million already dependent on humanitarian aid, the UN said.
Since the disaster struck, money and humanitarian aid have flowed to government-controlled parts of Syria. The Government regularly prevents aid from reaching Opposition territory.
Most of the deaths from the earthquake were on the opposition side. In the first days after the quake, no international aid was delivered to Opposition-controlled northwestern Syria.
Two Syrians involved in the aid distribution said the aid had been diverted to provincial government offices or the Syrian Development Trust, an organization linked to the president’s wife, Asma al-Assad. They requested anonymity fearing for their safety.
The Syrian Development Trust has stored a part of the supplies, these people said, adding that only a fraction had been given to earthquake victims.
The Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, militia, backed by Iran, an ally of Assad, has sent aid into government-controlled Syrian territory and tried to insist on doing its own delivery to avoid any interference, the reports revealed. two Syrians.
In Aleppo City, on government territory, the trust seized 100 boxes of powdered milk, saying they needed to be tested.
Kurdish-led authorities who control a semi-autonomous area of north-eastern Syria, which largely escaped the quake, sent 100 tankers of fuel to Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo.
However, at a Syrian military checkpoint on the outskirts of the city, the convoy was turned away, said Ilham Ahmed, a Kurdish politician.
He commented that the convoy stayed there for 10 days before being allowed to pass on the condition that the government would take 60 of the 100 pipes.
“We don’t know what the regime did with them,” Ahmed said.
By: RAJA ABDULRAHIM
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6602490, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-03-08 23:10:06
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