U.S. Treasury lifts sanctions against Syria
The U.S. Department of Treasury has lifted sanctions that would have prohibited humanitarian aid from getting to Syria as the shattered Middle East country tries to recover from Monday’s destructive 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The Treasury’s decision late Thursday to issue Syria General License 23 means those looking to donate and support the war-torn country will have 180 days to assist in immediate disaster relief efforts.
The move received applause from Greater Boston community members, including Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
Everett’s organization led a Thursday evening prayer service for Syria and Turkey at West Roxbury’s St. Matthew Syriac Orthodox Church. More than 100 people attended and signed letters urging the state’s delegation to support lifting the sanctions against Syria.
Everett told the Herald she was trying to wrap her head around Thursday’s announcement, but the general consensus is this is what they were asking and praying for.
“After a night that was filled with weeping, prayers and gratitude for gathering, our prayers about this were answered,” Everett said. “Now, we need to raise a lot of money because there is a lot of need.”
The earthquake, leaving Syria and Turkey in ruins, has killed more than 23,000 people and injured tens of thousands in the two countries
Before this week’s devastation, Syria already had been grappling with an ongoing, 12-year-old civil war that had displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said Friday that as many as 5.3 million Syrians may have been left homeless by Monday’s earthquake.
The Treasury’s license issuance also should provide U.S. and intermediary financial institutions what they need to process all earthquake relief transactions, according to the statement.
While the move is expected to bring relief, the Treasury admitted that sanctions programs do not target legitimate humanitarian assistance, including earthquake disaster relief efforts, even in regime-held areas.
“By all appearances, this change will make it easier for more people and organizations to send assistance more quickly,” said Rebecca Loumiotis, communications manager for International Orthodox Christian Charities, a Baltimore-based international humanitarian agency.
Razek Siriani, a leader at St. Matthew Syriac Orthodox Church, moved to Boston in 2013 with his family as they fled Aleppo, a city of roughly 1.85 million that’s just 70 miles southeast of where the earthquake hit in Turkey.
Siriani’s friends and family who remain in Syria are lacking basic necessities; food, water, clothes and shelter. He said he appreciates the Treasury’s decision to lift sanctions.
“It will be some time, but (it’s) never too late”, Siriani said of when he expects aid to arrive. “That’s good news. They lifted the sanctions for 180 days, we hope it will continue for longer than that.”