Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
On January 27, the European Union took the first step to ease sanctions on Syria, while the process is contingent upon the progress made by the new leadership in Damascus, following the December 8 departure of President Assad.
The first restrictions likely to be eased concern the banking, energy, and transport sectors. They are considered essential to accelerating the war-torn country's reconstruction, strengthening stability, and normalizing financial relations with the EU, which remains Syria's biggest international donor.
On January 6, the US issued a six-month sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
The US Treasury said the move sought "to help ensure that sanctions do not impede essential services and continuity of governance functions across Syria, including the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation".
The US and EU placed severe sanctions on Syria to pressure the Syrian people to rise in desperation and overthrow the Assad regime. In the end, that never happened. It was the armed intervention by Turkey, in support of the armed Jihadists in Idlib, HTS, who swept through Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Damascus in less than two weeks, and precipitated the fall of Assad, and his escape to Moscow.
Em George in Dahr Safra said, "I used to buy European medicines before the sanctions, but later I could not and my health suffered. I used to have home heating fuel each winter, but after the sanctions prevented importing fuels I was left in the bitter cold each winter."
Abo Abdo, a factory owner in Aleppo, said, "My fabric factory employs over 500 workers. I suffered from sanctions. My work lacked fuel to run the machines, electricity for lighting and machines, and I was prevented from exporting my products abroad."
In a paper written in 1998 by Richard N. Haass, "Economic Sanctions: Too Much of a Bad Thing", he exposed the failure of US sanctions aimed at big projects like regime change. Thus, all of the crippling sanctions on Syria and Iran have never produced any results. Haass proves that sanctions can only be effectively used on small projects where pressure is made to bear on a limited behavioral change by the government targeted.
Over the past 15 years, US and EU sanctions have significantly impacted Syria's economy, society, and political landscape.
Economic Impact
The Syrian pound (SYP) has drastically lost value due to sanctions, inflation, and economic instability. This has severely reduced purchasing power and resulted in currency devaluation.
Sanctions have limited Syria's ability to export oil and import essential goods, crippling key industries and causing shortages because of trade restrictions.
Foreign investment has dropped sharply due to sanctions, hindering economic recovery and leading to investment decline.
Sanctions on the Syrian banking sector have disrupted international transactions, complicating trade and financial operations. Importers of necessary goods were forced to use risky middlemen in the Arab Gulf to send money for shipments of goods. In some cases, this circuitous route for their payments ended with the money missing, and never delivered by unscrupulous middlemen.
Humanitarian Consequences
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