Human Rights Watch calls for lifting of sanctions hampering Syria’s recovery; 90% of Syrians still live below the poverty line

BEIRUT — Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the governments of the U.S., the EU and the UK to lift the sanctions that are obstructing reconstruction in Syria. HRW points out that the sanctions were imposed on the former Syrian government but keep exacerbating the suffering of millions of Syrians by depriving them of their basic rights, including access to water, electricity, healthcare and education. 

It also reminds that 13 years of conflict and displacement in Syria have led to the destruction of infrastructure, rendering entire towns uninhabitable. Schools, hospitals, roads, water facilities and electricity networks have been severely damaged. More than 90% of Syrians are living below the poverty line, “with at least 13 million—more than half the population—unable to access or afford enough quality food, and at least 16.5 million Syrians across Syria requiring some form of humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs.” 

Human Rights Watch calls on reintegrating Syria into the global financial systems, ending trade restrictions on essential goods and addressing energy sanctions to ensure the availability of fuel and electricity. It particularly points to the U.S. which enforces the most severe measures, prohibiting nearly all trade and financial transactions with Syria.

The US imposed sanctions on Assad that were intended to prevent any military, energy, structural or other interaction with his regime. The US sanctions are the most severe because the US – because of the dollar as the world currency – can impose its sanctions extraterritorially and thus force other countries and companies to follow its sanctions.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Western powers have made some lightening adjustments to sanctions. For example, the US has allowed certain financial transactions related to energy to go through from January 2025. While the EU proposed a conditional plan to ease sanctions, and the UK announced amendments currently under discussion in Parliament. 

“Rather than using broad sectoral sanctions as leverage for shifting political objectives, Western governments should recognize their direct harm to civilians and take meaningful steps to lift restrictions that impede access to basic rights,” said HRW’s senior Syria researcher Hiba Zayadin. “A piecemeal approach of temporary exemptions and limited waivers is not enough. Sanctions that harm civilians should immediately be lifted, not refined.”