Swiss Parliament Rejects Proposal to Lift Syria Sanctions That Harm Civilians

GENEVA (Sputnik) - The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss parliament, said on Tuesday that it had turned down a proposal urging the government to lift sanctions against Syria affecting its civil population.

"The proposal instructing the Federal Council to not renew sanctions [against Syria] harming civilians and lift those sanctions adopted by Switzerland was turned down in a 18-to-5 vote with one abstention," the statement read.

The committee added that it had also turned down another proposal calling on the country's government to evaluate these sanctions as to whether they directly affect the civilian population in Syria.

On February 10, the US Treasury said it would provide several months of sanctions relief for Syria in order to allow certain transactions for recovery efforts after it was hit by devastating earthquakes. UN World Food Programme Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer said that some sanctions against Syria must be lifted so that the humanitarian community can deliver medicines and fertilizers to the country.

Parts of Turkiye and Syria were hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks on February 6. The death toll in Turkiye exceeded 35,000. In Syria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated the number at 8,500, while the Syrian Health Ministry said the death toll in the government-controlled areas topped 1,410 people.