The British government has lifted sanctions on 24 entities in Syria, including the country’s central bank, coming during a severe economic crisis and an indiscriminate government crackdown on the uprising launched this week by elements of the former Syrian military.
The UK is the first country to unfreeze all Syrian central bank assets. Sanctions on the state airliner and state-owned oil firms were also removed on 6 March.
“This approach underscores our commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy, including through support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process,” a UK government spokesman said.
“We will continue to judge Syria’s interim authorities by their actions, not their words,” the spokesman added.
Syria is facing a severe economic crisis. During the past three months, hundreds of Syrian factories, plants, and workshops have been closed in several governorates.
The UN issued a report last month highlighting that the Syrian economy will not be able to recover fully before 2080 – 55 years from now – due to the 14-year brutal war, which saw the country under relentless sanctions. Nine in 10 Syrians now live in poverty, the UN report estimates, adding that the country’s GDP is currently less than half of what it was pre-2011 – marking a loss of around $800 billion.
Late last month, EU countries suspended with immediate effect some of the sanctions the bloc had imposed on Syria, including restrictions related to energy, banking, transport, and reconstruction.
“This is a belated if very welcome step by the UK. The Syrian economy desperately needs a boost, and removing or easing sanctions is one of the key measures that can assist in this process,” Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said about London’s decision.
The UK move coincided with the start of an uprising by cells affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Syria’s former military under president Bashar al-Assad’s government, on the Syrian coast, west of the country.
Heavy clashes erupted on Thursday between the former Syrian army cells and the authorities after security forces entered the town of Al-Daatour in Latakia and Dalieh in Jableh as part of a security campaign against remnants of the SAA. This campaign has been ongoing since the fall of Assad’s government in December last year.
Sporadic clashes and ambushes against security forces have been taking place since then – until the outbreak of large-scale fighting on Thursday.
The SAA cells have reportedly taken over a number of bases and military sites, including the Astamu airbase and Naval College in Tartous.
Intense clashes continue to rage in Latakia, Tartous, and around Jableh. The entire city of Jableh has been captured by the former Syrian army cells. Government reinforcements have continued to arrive from Hama, Homs, and Idlib, and are carrying out executions and indiscriminate attacks on civilians from the Alawite minority, which has faced heavy persecution since the new administration took power.
A video circulating on Syrian telegram channels on Friday shows the aftermath of a massacre of unarmed civilians in the Latakia countryside, specifically the villages of Al-Mukhtariyya and Al-Zobar on the Aleppo–Lattakia Road, carried out by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led (HTS) security forces.
At least 69 civilians have been killed by authorities since the uprising began, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The number is expected to rise.
Videos shared on social media on Thursday evening show the security forces opening fire on protesters.