Aid for Victims Of Earthquake Diverted by Syria
When a catastrophic earthquake struck Syria last month, President Bashar al-Assad did not declare a state of emergency. It was days before he visited the stricken areas.
But from Day 1, his government called for the lifting of Western sanctions.
The United States initially pushed back. But then Washington eased banking restrictions for six months. And Europe followed suit.
The earthquake on February 6 has already been a political boon for Mr. al-Assad, as Arab leaders who once shunned him sent condolences and aid. Now, the easing of sanctions is raising concerns that the president and his inner circle stand to reap financial gains that can be used to shore up their support.
Syria’s government has been targeted by sanctions over human rights violations during the country’s 12-year civil war.
Government opponents are concerned that the sanctions relief could be the start of Mr. al-Assad’s fuller reintegration in the international community with virtually no consequences for the abuses.
Experts said that the easing of sanctions was not even necessary given the existing exemptions for humanitarian aid.
But a U.S. State Department spokesperson said European and Arab states and aid groups had expressed concern that the sanctions might prevent them from providing assistance. Many banks have refused to process transactions with Syria for fear of running afoul of the sanctions, even though they are subject to the exemptions.
While the sanctions are meant to punish government and military officials, they affect entire sectors of the economy and many ordinary Syrians. About 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations.
The quake killed at least 6,000 people in northwestern Syria and more than 45,000 in neighboring Turkey. It affected nearly 11 million people in Syria, including about four million who were already reliant on humanitarian aid, the U.N. said.
Since the disaster struck, money and humanitarian aid have flowed into the government-controlled parts of Syria. The government routinely prevents aid from reaching opposition territory.
Most of the deaths from the earthquake were on the opposition side. For the first few days afterward, no international aid was delivered to opposition-controlled northwestern Syria.
Two Syrians involved in aid distribution said that aid had been diverted to provincial government offices or to the Syria Trust for Development, an organization connected to the president’s wife, Asma al-Assad. They asked not to be identified out of fears for their security.
The Syria Trust for Development has put a portion of the supplies in storage, these people said, adding that only a fraction had been delivered to quake victims.
The Iraqi militia Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, which is backed by the Assad ally Iran, has sent aid to government-controlled Syrian territory and has tried to insist on doing its own distribution to head off any interference, according to the two Syrians.
In the city of Aleppo, in government territory, the Syria Trust for Development seized 100 boxes of baby formula, saying they needed to be tested.
In Latakia Province, the militia was made to hand over all of its aid to the Syria Trust for Development, which distributed only bread, juice and ramen soup packages, the two Syrians said.
The Kurdish-led authorities who control a semiautonomous area of northeastern Syria that was largely unscathed by the earthquake sent 100 fuel trucks to Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. But at a Syrian military checkpoint outside the city, the convoy was prevented from passing, said Ilham Ahmed, a Kurdish politician.
She said it stayed there for 10 days before it was allowed to go through on the condition that the government would take 60 of the 100 fuel trucks.
“We don’t know what the regime did with it,” Ms. Ahmed said of the 60 trucks. “We don’t know if it went to the afflicted or not.”
Worries that sanctions relief helps al-Assad.