EU Sanctions Target Humanitarian Aid and Hinder Restoration of Global Heritage in Syria
Franklin
Lamb
Damascus
Today, a civilization that used to lead the world and for centuries was the beacon of learning, tolerance and trade, and that still protects our global cultural heritage is damaged--and only the Syrian people can rebuild it for all of us. We need to help them.
Last month, half-heartedly and without unanimity among its 28 member states, the European Union levied yet more sanctions on Syrian officials. Passed under pressure from the usual suspects (the US, France, Britain, and the international Zionist lobby), the EU measure targets 12 government ministers, none of whom wields or holds police authority of any type. Not a single one of these individuals has any capacity or wherewithal--or even any interest--in committing "serious human rights violations," as the measure accuses them of having carried out.
It is a
charge that amounts to defamation of character and which the EU made without
offering a scintilla of evidence. Widely seen as EU frustration over failed
western policy in Syria, the action is also thought to have been motivated by a
sense that the EU ought to keep itself relevant by"well"doing something, given that there is a deep
split within its ranks over military aid to Syrian rebels. Coming three weeks
after the Syrian presidential election (generally viewed as a significant victory
for the Assad government), the measure puts the officials under an EU travel
ban and asset freeze, and it also raises to 191 the number of Syrian government
employees, along with 53 companies, now being targeted by EU sanctions.
The impact of EU and western sanctions on the Syrian economy has been
severe--this is well known. Heavy fighting has damaged or destroyed economic
infrastructure, significantly impeding normal access to sources of income for
average Syrians. In addition, internal distribution and supply networks have
been disrupted if not destroyed; currency depreciation has devastated
purchasing power; and the heavy US, EU and Arab League sanctions have hampered
imports and exports. Even the import of items not subject to the sanctions has
been restricted by the sanctions on financial transactions, while tourism
revenue, for example, has all but disappeared.
The EU's ill-considered action simply adds to the multitude of woes faced by Syrian
citizens, woes which have forced many of them to leave their country and become
refugees. The ministers targeted tend to be technocrats, specialists in their field
of work; they are not major government policy makers. Some are involved in
humanitarian work, and some of them are ministers whose efforts in this regard
have made them quite popular with Syrian people, both at home and abroad. One
of these is Kinda al-Shammat, who heads Syria's Ministry of Social Affairs.
Ms. Shammat works closely with the U.N. and other aid agencies operating on the
ground in Syria, her efforts facilitating the delivery of assistance to
millions of internally displaced Syrians. The UN has hundreds of aid workers working
with the Syrian government through her. She has never been involved in "serious
human rights violations," but she is a well-known human rights advocate. Ms.
Shammat holds a PhD in Private Law from the University of Damascus, where she
teaches, and she has also worked with the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs,
the General Union of Syrian Women, and the UN Development Fund. In the latter
capacity she served as a legal expert in family affairs and violence against
women, and in 2012 she was also a member of the committee that amended the
Syrian constitution.
Ms. Shammat first came to this observer's attention for her continued
dedication to getting aid to Palestinian refugees trapped inside Yarmouk camp
during the current crisis. She survived an assassination attempt by rebels
opposed to her views on women rights, and some suggest that she became a target
for al-Qaeda types last year when Damascus University banned the wearing of
total full face veils. It was a decision she openly welcomed at the time, saying
that it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.
"We in Syria have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right,"
she told Al-Arabiya TV.
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