Sanctions on Syria have to be lifted soon

Washington is just starting to understand that sanctions do not compel governments to do what the US wants. People who are harmed by sanctions are the poor and the middle class rather than their rulers. Consequently, sanctions amount to collective punishment and violate international law. Those in Washington who are the principal advocates of sanctions could not care less. Slapping sanctions on an individual, institution, business or country creates jobs in sanctioning countries and gives practitioners a feeling of power.

In affected countries, sanctions produce inventive means to evade them and enrich smugglers. The rich pay more for their normal life-style; the poor starve. Sanctions drive shortages and inflation which not only impact target countries but also neighbours and trading partners.

Last month UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan told the UN Human Rights Council that the US imposes sanctions which extend its “extraterritorial jurisdiction” at the expense of targets’ human rights, their associates, communities, countries and regions. Consequently, when the US claims it imposes sanctions on countries which violate the human rights of their citizens, Washington is doing the same, compounding the damage inflicted by governments.

The reason I have raised this issue is that after the bloody conflict in Syria ended with the withdrawal of takfiri and Turkish-supported Free Syrian Army forces from eastern Aleppo, sanctions have been used by the US and its Western allies to punish Syrians. They had believed that they would be able to rebuild their country after the fighting stopped.

All the Syrians I have spoken to during my 10 days in Aleppo and Damascus have said that the situation is far worse now than during the fighting. Furthermore, conditions will continue to deteriorate if Syria is prevented from reconstructing damaged infrastructure, securing control of its resources, and regaining the right to import essential medicine, food, and spare parts for life-saving equipment which are not supposed to be sanctioned. First and foremost Syrians must rebuild their electricity sector which is fading fast, punishing the people and depriving industries of power to produce goods and denying workers jobs.

Since timings of electricity cuts were formerly fixed and involved outages of a couple of hours followed by several hours of power, consumers could plan their daily activities to fit in the arrival of power. Today this can come in short bursts, making it difficult to charge batteries which supply power for lights and appliances and phones. The cost of government electricity has risen dramatically.

This has prompted Syrians with modest means to install solar panels on their roofs or in their gardens, connect them to storage batteries, and inverters which power a few lights, a fridge, and a television. My friend Joseph paid more than $1,200 for such an arrangement. Wealthy householders have bought multiple solar panels which provide round-the-clock coverage between random one-hour periods of government supplies. I stayed in a lovely late 17th-century Ottoman house belonging to a friend who had power the whole time. Life seemed to be “normal” with hot water, good internet connections, lights when needed, and fridge operating constantly. We always knew when “hakoumi” power came on because the lights dimmed.

The super thin solar panels are Chinese and come in different sizes. Small panels run streetlights and signs while large panels crowd rooftops, particularly in prosperous residential neighbourhoods and business districts. In Aleppo I visited a kindergarten run by two nuns which boasted a covered area made up of 16 panels. They also had a small backup generator provided by the International Red Cross. Large generators serving a number of customers have been installed here and there in western Aleppo but are banned in Damascus. Fuel for generators is in short supply, however, and small generators have not proliferated outside shops and cafes as happened in electricity-starved Beirut.

Syrians must also gain control of their oil fields in the northeast and east which, before the war, used to provide them with enough petrol, fuel oil and petroleum products for domestic consumption and export. This could be achieved by the return of the 25 per cent of territory held by the Syrian Kurds who allied themselves with the US during the 2014-2019 campaign to defeat Daesh in Syria and Iraq. Eighty per cent of Syria’s oil comes from this area.

For years, the Kurds have maintained contact with the government with the aim of returning the region they hold to the state. Now is the time for the Arabs to exert pressure on the Kurds to reach an agreement with Damascus. These talks have, reportedly, been stepped up following the March 10th agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic relations after seven years. So far, the Biden administration has not tried to scupper these contacts although Washington is not best pleased. The Kurds know full well that they will have to reach an accommodation with the government because they live in and are part of this region. They are not living on the moon or in North America far from troubled West Asia.

Shortages of petrol, oil and gas caused by the US occupation of Syria’s oil fields amount to violations of Syrian human rights. Syrians cannot move freely around their country, farmers do not have mazout to fuel pumps to irrigate their crops and orchards, power stations cannot operate normally, and households and businesses face lengthy blackouts.

According to the Syrian government, the US — with the Kurds’ help — is taking crude from al-Omari field in Deir al-Zor to US military bases in Iraq. The US is, reportedly, building a new military base in this area, making clear its intention of staying put although the US military is an intrusive, occupying foreign force. The third activity essential for Syria’s recovery is banking. Syria must be allowed to return to international banking to buy items which the Syrian people need and the raw materials for production of goods for both domestic and regional markets. Syria cannot continue to be isolated and ostracised. While sanctions are not legally allowed on food, medical supplies, and certain equipment, the US not only prevents Syria from directly accessing them but also punishes other countries, firms, and individuals from supplying these items by threatening to punish them with fines and sanctions.

Since credit and debit cards which operate internationally and banks and Western Union transfers are banned, Syrians who receive life-support-payments from relatives abroad have to rely on expensive informal hawala firms which are located in a few large cities, forcing those who do not live there to travel distances they cannot afford to receive their money.

Syrians could be freed from punitive sanctions on electricity, oil and banking if Arab governments challenge Washington’s impositions by flouting them. If enough Arab governments mount concentrated resistance, the US sanctions-grip on Syria would be, at least, loosened. This would give the Syrian people the chance to rebuild and recoup from years of warfare and sanctions. Ultimately the sanctions regime will have to be lifted entirely: the sooner the better.