For Syria’s future to be successful, the head of Caritas Internationalis has one clear message: End the sanctions now. Source: NCR Online.
“Syrians are highly competent, highly educated people who are cutting their legs off from underneath them through these sanctions,” Alistair Dutton, the secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, said.
Mr Dutton travelled to Syria from January 28-30 and was one of the first high-profile global Catholic leaders to visit the country following the December 2024 fall of the brutal Assad family, which ruled the country for more than 50 years.
Since the country’s 2011 civil war, Syria has been subject to a bevy of international economic sanctions, especially from the EU and the US in response to the Assad regime’s ruthless human rights abuses.
For Mr Dutton, however, these sanctions have always been ill-advised.
“The real crime and problem with the sanctions is that they don’t hurt people in power,” he said.
“Assad was never hurt by the sanctions. It’s people in the street. It’s ordinary people who are hurt most by these sanctions.”
The surprise takeover of the country in December by an Islamist militant group and allied rebel factions has ushered in a new era of uncertainty for the country – one that brings with it many questions about what it means for the stability of the region, treatment of minorities and much more.
And despite the leadership’s checkered past, Syria’s caretaker government has pledged a more inclusive society and the opportunity for free and fair elections to share the country’s future.
Mr Dutton said he has frequently visited the country since the start of the civil war, including most recently in January 2024, but that he was eager to return to assess where it stands following the new regime’s takeover.
“My main message coming back – it was true beforehand but now we have the change of regime – there’s no excuse anymore for the sanctions that are in place,” Mr Dutton said.
“They are crippling the whole country and making it impossible for people to rebuild their houses, whether they were destroyed in the war or in the earthquake.”
FULL STORY
In wake of Syria visit, Vatican’s humanitarian chief pleads for an end to sanctions (By Christopher White, NCR Online)
