US Sanctions Harming Syrians, Hampering Reconstruction Efforts: UN
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A UN rights expert called on the United States to reverse its sanctions on Syria, saying the designations are impeding the country's ability to reconstruct civilian infrastructure and deterring foreign aid groups from helping the country recover from its decade-long war.
"The sanctions violate the human rights of the Syrian people, whose country has been destroyed by almost 10 years of ongoing conflict," Alena Douhan, UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures, said in a statement on Tuesday, the Middle East Eye reported.
"The conflict and violence have already had a dire impact on the ability of the Syrian people to realize their fundamental rights, having extensively damaged houses, medical units, schools, and other facilities.
"What particularly alarms me is the way the Caesar Act runs roughshod over human rights, including the Syrian people's rights to housing, health, and an adequate standard of living and development."
The US began blacklisting Syrian individuals and entities tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government in June under the Caesar Act.
Last week, in the latest round of sanctions, Washington targeted Assad's wife Asma again, along with immediate members of her London-based family.
Douhan said the Caesar Act brought up concerns that the sanctions might "exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in Syria".
"When it announced the first sanctions under the Caesar Act in June 2020, the United States said it did not intend for them to harm the Syrian population," she said.
"Yet enforcement of the Act may worsen the existing humanitarian crisis, depriving the Syrian people of the chance to rebuild their basic infrastructure."
The UN expert said that in order to combat the economic decline impacting ordinary civilians, humanitarian aid and infrastructure rebuilding projects are necessary.
Douhan said the recent designation of the Syrian Central Bank would create obstacles for such aid to be able to get into the country.
"Impeding access to supplies needed to repair infrastructure damaged by the conflict will have a negative impact on human rights of the Syrian people and may preserve the trauma of the decade-long conflict," she said.