The EU has renewed its Syria sanctions regime (and the corresponding humanitarian exception) until 1 June 2025 (regulation), removed 5 deceased individuals and 1 other individual, and amended 96 listings (regulation). 316 individuals and 86 entities are currently designated on the Syria sanctions list.
The EU has renewed its cyber sanctions regime until 18 May 2025 and amended the listings for 6 individuals and 2 entities (decision). 8 individuals and 4 entities are currently designated on the cyber sanctions list.
Qatar, Turkey open new village for displaced in Syria
The Qatari Red Crescent and Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) on Tuesday inaugurated more than 1,000 new homes for displaced people in northern Syria, The Daily Sabah reported.
Mohammad Salah Ibrahim of the Red Crescent said the Qatari-financed village of 1,136 new homes was “the largest village opened to date in northern Syria.”
The homes are in 143 two-story buildings in the village in Aleppo province, which Ibrahim said also has a 16-room health clinic, a school for 500 pupils, a mosque and shops.
More than half a million people have been killed and millions more displaced in Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011 after the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
A deadly earthquake in February 2023 also killed about 6,000 people in the country and 53,000 people in bordering southeastern Turkey.
Qatar has financed several building projects in northern Syria, and Turkey launched a project in May last year that includes the construction of 240,000 new homes at 13 sites in an effort to rehouse one-third of the 3 million Syrians who had fled across the border.
Ammar Shehadeh, 37, had been living in a camp since fleeing Aleppo during the Syrian conflict and was one of the first to get a new home.
He had been living in a tent city on the Turkish border until now.
Syrians in Lebanon fear unprecedented restrictions, deportations
Lebanese soldiers came before daybreak, singling out the Syrian men without residence permits from the tattered camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Reuters reported.
As toddlers wailed around them, Mona, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon for a decade, watched Lebanese troops shuffle her brother onto a truck headed for the Syrian border.
Thirteen years since Syria’s conflict broke out, Lebanon remains home to the largest refugee population per capita in the world: roughly 1.5 million Syrians – half of whom are refugees formally registered with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR – in a country of approximately 4 million Lebanese.
They are among some five million Syrian refugees who spilled out of Syria into neighbouring countries, while millions more are displaced within Syria. Donor countries in Brussels this week pledged fewer funds in Syria aid than last year.
Employers have been urged to stop hiring Syrians for menial jobs. Municipalities have issued new curfews and have even evicted Syrian tenants, two humanitarian sources told Reuters. At least one township in northern Lebanon has shuttered an informal camp, sending Syrians scattering, the sources said.
Lebanese security forces issued a new directive this month shrinking the number of categories through which Syrians can apply for residency – frightening many who would no longer qualify for legal status and now face possible deportation.
Composer Malek Jandali is Syria’s ‘musician of the revolution’
Artsatl.org published a long report on composer Malek Jandali, a significant figure in classical music, known for blending Middle-Eastern musical traditions with Western classical structures. His activism and commitment to preserving Syria’s musical heritage, especially during the ongoing war, have earned him reverence within the Syrian exile community. Through his compositions, Jandali conveys powerful messages and aims to bridge cultural gaps while advocating for positive change
Over the past decade, Jandali has composed eight symphonies and seven concertos, with his music performed by major orchestras. He is currently working on his first opera, “The Square.”
Jandali’s music carries powerful messages, such as his Clarinet Concerto dedicated to “victims of injustice.” Born in Germany to Syrian parents, Jandali moved to Syria at age five. His father, a prominent physician, instilled in him a love of Western classical music, which he blended with the Arabic folk music he grew up with.
A gifted pianist, Jandali studied in Damascus, Moscow, and North Carolina. He eventually transitioned into composing, creating a unique style that integrates ancient Arabic maqams with Western classical forms. Jandali’s Pianos for Peace program places pianos in public spaces to promote community engagement and is headquartered in Atlanta.
Jandali’s recent and upcoming projects include recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra and the ORF Vienna Symphony, as well as premieres of his symphonies by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Marin Alsop, a key supporter of Jandali’s work, highlights his ability to blend Syrian musical elements with Western traditions, creating a unique and primal sound.
