End Sanctions on Syria!

August 3, 2023

Dear Senators Klobuchar and Smith and Representatives Omar and McCollom ,

In response to the devastating earthquake that shook parts of Turkey and Syria and claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people in February, the Biden Administration took an important step to help Syrians begin the process of rebuilding their lives by temporarily easing certain sanctions on Syria. The 180-day temporary pause has allowed the people of Syria to gain access to fundamental supplies and food which have 1) alleviated injuries through access to better medical care and 2) alleviated nutritional problems and starvation through access to critical food imports. That 180-day exemption ends on August 8.

We ask that you consider the humanitarian impacts on the people of Syria who suffer under U.S. sanctions and we implore the Biden Administration to extend the sanctions exemption.

Syria has been sanctioned by the United States since 1979 and has since become the third most sanctioned country in the world. Sanctions have done immense damage to Syria’s once prominent public health system, blocking importation of medicine needed to treat cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The sanctions have also made it hard to import basic items such as milk, which has had a devastating impact on infant nutrition. Not only is the importing of important goods being blocked while Syrians continue to recover from a natural disaster, but also during a devastating war. Syrians are still in desperate need of medical care to treat injuries as well as diseases that might be contracted in the midst of these hardships.

Policy makers in Washington have always claimed that sanctions are imposed in response to human rights abuses by the Syrian state. The claim is that these sanctions punish the sanctioned country by isolating it from the rest of the world. In reality, sanctions are an economic act of war which only serves to punish civilians by limiting vital resources necessary for life–violating human rights the U.S. government claims to want to protect by imposing them in the first place. Sanctions cause real devastation to average people trying to live their lives in their home country. These sanctions harm people by limiting crucial imports of food, medicine, and other resources needed by Syrians to continue living their lives. The damage and suffering caused by sanctions is incalculable and unacceptable. The people of Syria should not suffer for issues our government has with theirs.

For these reasons, we urge you to act and push all necessary parties to not only continue the exemption but also end all sanctions on Syria.

Sincerely,

MN Anti-War Committee