US Eases Syria Sanctions to Allow Transaction for Earthquake Relief - Treasury

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Treasury said it is providing several months of sanctions relief for Syria in order to allow certain transactions for recovery efforts following a deadly earthquake near the Syria-Turkiye border earlier this week.

"Today, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License (GL) 23, which authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SySR)," Treasury said in a release on Thursday.

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo was quoted in the release stressing that US sanctions in Syria "will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people."

"While US sanctions programs already contain robust exemptions for humanitarian efforts, today Treasury is issuing a blanket General License to authorize earthquake relief efforts so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding," he added.

The Treasury said the US government has long had several sanctions waivers in place in Syria to permit most activities in support of humanitarian assistance, including in regime-held areas, by the United Nations, the US government, or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) engaging in transactions in support of certain not-for-profit activities.

However, the Treasury added that this new authorization expands on the current sanctions waivers already in effect in Syria for NGOs, international organizations, and the US government.

The Treasury Department said it will continue to monitor the situation in Syria and engage with key humanitarian and disaster assistance stakeholders, key partners and allies, to understand emerging challenges they may face in delivery of services amid recovery efforts.

The latest development comes after the US was widely criticized for not earlier lifting sanctions in the immediate wake of the devastating earthquakes that killed thousands across Syria and nearby Turkiye.

Earlier on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said no sanctions should interfere with relief efforts in Syria as the country is dealing with the fallout of the devastating earthquake.

Bouthaina Shaaban, who serves as a special adviser to the Syrian presidency, earlier commented that Washington's failure to lift sanctions proved that "the West only cares about areas where the terrorists are - where the White Helmets are - but they do not care about the areas in which most Syrian people live."

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies previously told Sputnik that sanctions against Syria had forced prices to skyrocket in the region in addition to bottlenecking humanitarian efforts.

Syria and neighboring Turkiye were hit with a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake on February 6, going on to experience a series of strong aftershocks and tremors. The deadly earthquakes toppled multiple buildings and claimed the lives of some 20,000 people in Turkiye and Syria.