lift the embargo and sanctions

A joint note from patriarchs and church leaders against punitive measures that affect the population and slow down the relief machinery. Trappist nuns speak of the “salt of sanctions in the wounds” of the quake. Damascus submits a formal request for assistance to the EU. The UN asks “not to politicize” the interventions. First convoy in areas controlled by rebels and jihadists.

Aleppo () – International sanctions and the embargo against Syria are hindering relief operations and the delivery of aid to a population hit by the earthquake, which still bears the marks and wounds of more than 10 years of ongoing war ongoing in various areas. This is the request made by Christian and religious leaders, among them the Trappist nuns, who demand a relaxation of the embargo on Damascus promoted by the United States and the West, but which for the moment only ends up weighing on the population. And about the delivery and distribution of food, blankets and essential relief material in the areas hit by the earthquake, be it under the control of President Bashar al-Assad (read: Aleppo) or the jihadist and rebel galaxy based in Idlib.

At the head of the request to “relax the embargo on the Syrian people” are the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi, the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarch Aphrem Ignatius, the Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarch Joseph I and all the heads of the Churches of the Arab country. “Thousands of Syrians have lost their lives, many churches, institutions and homes have been destroyed and many families displaced,” they write. A “natural catastrophe” that adds suffering to a population already very tested by wars, crises, catastrophes and epidemics, to which is added the “absence of essential machinery, medicines and basic necessities” to be able to “live with dignity”.

Hence the call to the United Nations and to the States that imposed sanctions on Syria (Washington in the first place) to “relax the embargo”, which only ends up affecting the civilian population, and take “exceptional and immediate measures” to guarantee the supply of basic necessities. In addition to praying for the victims, the Christian leaders renew their appeal to “governments, international organizations, NGOs and charities” to ensure “support for rescue and relief efforts, regardless of any political considerations.”

Words that seem to find a partial response today in the UN warning, which asks “not to politicize” aid to Syria. And if a first convoy (which will pass through Turkey) to the territories of the northwestern province of Idlib, controlled by rebels and jihadists, is expected today, Damascus itself sent a formal request for help to the European Union. The request was picked up by the European Commission, which addressed the Member States “encouraging” them to respond with medicines, food and basic necessities, but making sure that the materials sent “are not diverted” to the government or affiliated entities, but rather that are distributed among the population.

In Syria, the voice of the Trappist nuns of Azer is also being raised who, in a letter signed by Sister Marta, denounce the “salt of the sanctions in the wounds of the earthquake”. “Enough of empty words, now is the time to lift the sanctions against Syria”, ask the nuns, who hope that “the tragedy and suffering of so many dead who remain under the rubble will serve to help the living hope” . And they add: “[…] if the general conditions of the people had not been so desperate, today there would be more means to dig through the rubble and be able to save someone. There would be better equipped hospitals, pharmacies stocked with everything necessary. More houses capable of hosting refugees, […] more people with work and resources to help their brothers”.

The earthquake is “an immense tragedy”, the Syrian Trappists recall, but “even in the areas that were not severely affected, there are many people in need, who are dying of hunger, today as yesterday, because hunger, the impossibility of coping to diseases due to the cost of medicines, and everything else already existed before this February 6”. The earthquake opened their eyes “to the Syrian tragedy, which no one had talked about for a long time,” they added, but “there was already an earthquake, quieter but no less devastating, that had shaken the life and future of this town for years “. “The living – the nuns conclude – need a tangible and concrete hope that life can be rebuilt… Raise your voice so that the sanctions are immediately withdrawn”.