July 31 (UPI) — The Carter Center is calling on the U.S. government to extend its earthquake exception to sanctions on Syria, as the humanitarian carveout nears its Aug. 8 expiration date following deadly quakes earlier this year.
The Carter Center, a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization to advance human rights, urged the United States on Monday to follow Switzerland’s model of an open-ended timeline after two devastating earthquakes — with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 — killed more than 60,000 people in Syria and Turkey on Feb. 6. The quakes, and the nearly 2,000 aftershocks which followed, impacted more than 13 million people across 10 provinces.
The 180-day humanitarian exception to U.S. sanctions on Syria was released several days after the quakes hit and authorized “for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations.” The sanctions were first imposed in 2011, after the Syrian civil war, to ensure the Syrian government stopped using violence against its citizens.
According to the center founded by former President Jimmy Carter, the United States’ General License 23 has made an impact by “removing obstacles to financial transactions tied to relief efforts,” allowing goods and services from the United States — that would otherwise be banned — to flow in response to the deadly quakes.
“Our sanctions have longstanding authorizations, longstanding carveouts, to see to it that humanitarian aid is allowed to go into Syria,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in February, when GL 23 was announced.
But the Carter Center said Monday the exception’s six-month timeline is not long enough to carry out “all necessary relief efforts,” which include food and shelter for displaced people, healthcare services and safe drinking water.
“Many relief operations, such as rebuilding hospitals and replacing complex medical equipment, will take years to complete,” the center said in a statement.
While there is no word yet on whether the United States plans to extend GL 23, the Carter Center called its extension a “much-needed measure.”
“By adopting an extended and open-ended approach, the U.S. government can demonstrate its commitment to alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people and contribute significantly to the ongoing humanitarian efforts in the region.”
