Lifting of Syria sanctions by the EU

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) welcomes the lifting of the Syria sanctions by the European Union: “It was not Assad who suffered from the sanctions, but primarily the civilian population,” stated Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, who recently returned from a visit to Syria, in Göttingen today. “However, it must be clear to the EU that the new Islamist leaders will instrumentalize the lifting of the sanctions in order to consolidate their power and to reinforce Islamist structures in Syria.”

Thus, the EU and the United States should impose targeted sanctions on the new man in power, al-Sharaa, and other members of his Islamist government – as they did not only commit war crimes as militiamen, but were also involved in massacres of Alawites, Druze, and Kurds after taking power. “It is said that at least 30,000 Alawites were killed by Islamists in the west of Syria, and tens of thousands were expelled or forced to flee. The new government is planning to let Islamist fighters and their families settle in the region,” Sido warned. “These resettlement plans and the expulsion of the Alawites from their traditional settlement areas along the Syrian Mediterranean coast are to be seen as an ethnic cleansing. Alawites, Ismailis, and Christians who traditionally lead an open life will not be able to live together with the radical Islamists and will therefore have to leave their homes.”

Under these circumstances, the EU must make clear demands to al-Sharaa. It is important to call for a break with Islamist ideologies and to demand concrete steps toward establishing a democratic, pluralistic, and federal system for all people in Syria: Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians/Aramaeans, Alawites, Druze, Christians, and Yazidis – with the same rights for everyone.

“In Damascus, I witnessed how verses from the Qur’an were recited over the loudspeakers on a public bus the entire way from the city center to the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Bab Thoma. None of the mostly Christian passengers were allowed to contradict the bus driver. In Aleppo, I talked to an Armenian pharmacist. He sees no future for himself and the other Armenians in Syria,” Sido reported. “Bishop Maurice of the Syrian Orthodox church in north-east of Syria confirmed this to me as well – and he added that, if the situation remains as it is, no Christian will be able to live in Syria anymore.”

Against this background, the lifting of the sanctions is a step in the right direction, but it must not lead to a further Islamization of Syria. The international community should closely monitor the actions of the new rulers and impose targeted sanctions in response to any misconduct.