The United States has been enforcing broad economic sanctions on the Bashar al-Assad government as part of its Syria policy, nearly twelve years after the Syrian uprising. However, these sanctions have proved ineffective in prompting political concessions, promoting peaceful conflict resolution, or improving human rights conditions. Instead, the use of sanctions combined with the detrimental effects of prolonged conflict, the economic crisis in Lebanon, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed to a dire economic collapse that has left over 90 percent of the Syrian population living in poverty.
As things stand, sanctions cause harm to the civilian population whilst failing to put pressure on Syria’s government. These sanctions have had severe implications for public health and food security with around 12 million Syrians grappling with food insecurity. The recent calamitous earthquakes intensified the already pressing need for infrastructure repair including water, electricity, shelter, and educational facilities, making it even more urgent to reconsider the current approach to sanctions.
Although General License number 23 issued by the US on February 8th has had some positive impact, the measures are insufficient in providing an adequate response to the current crisis. The cost of these ineffective sanctions is being paid by innocent Syrians who are struggling to survive each day.
The ability of Syria’s elite to use various tactics to evade sanctions has left civilians and small businesses to bear the brunt of the consequences. The situation raises fundamental questions about the morality and ethics of using economic coercion as a means of achieving political objectives. Are the human costs of sanctions justifiable? Should innocent civilians be made to bear the burden of political conflict? A critical re-evaluation of the use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool is necessary to minimize harm to civilians and prioritize human rights protection. As UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan contends “No reference to good objectives of unilateral sanctions justifies the violation of fundamental human rights.”
