The U.S. amended the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SySR) to expand the authorizations for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to engage in certain transactions and activities in Syria, the U.S. Department of Treasury said in a statement yesterday.
The exemptions of the expanded sanctions issued yesterday, are to support certain not-for-profit activities by NGOs in Syria: “new investment in Syria; the purchase of refined petroleum products of Syrian origin for use in Syria; and certain transactions with elements of the Government of Syria” the statement read.
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The activities include humanitarian projects that meet basic human needs, democracy-building, projects supporting education, non-commercial development projects directly benefitting the Syrian people, and activities to support the preservation and protection of cultural heritage sites, according to the statement.
This amendment will go into effect on November 26th, 2021.
This amendment is to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, who continue to face armed conflict, food insecurity, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement noted.
The U.S. Congress passed the Caesar Act in 2019 to say “It is the policy of the U.S. that diplomatic and coercive economic means should be utilized to compel the government of Bashar al-Assad to halt its murderous attacks on the Syrian people”.
Remarks by the Syrian Observer: The U.S. recently gave Lebanon a green light to import Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity through Syria, even though such a scheme would give the Syrian regime access to these resources. More on this here.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
