Consider This from NPR - In Nearly Every Part of Syria, Life Is Struggle

Episode Date: April 13, 2023

Syria is buckling under the stresses caused by civil war, a brutal dictatorship, punishing international sanctions, and most recently the devastation caused by earthquakes in the region last February.At the same time, the effectiveness of sanctions meant to hurt and isolate the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad is being questioned. Recently, a group of former U.S. officials and Syria experts urged President Biden to rethink U.S. policy and make sanctions more effective. NPR's Aya Batrawy traveled to a government-controlled area of Syria to learn more about what life under sanctions is like there.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org. It has been just over two months since earthquakes devastated large parts of Turkey and Syria. Nearly 54,000 people were killed. 6,000 of those deaths were in Syria. Hundreds of thousands were left without shelter in both countries. But in Syria, a man-made disaster had been set in motion long before, the country's civil war. That complicated earthquake relief, especially for families living in a territory controlled by the Syrian opposition.

It took days before the first UN that the disaster is bigger than us. It's beyond our capacity. We said that we need help from the very beginning to help those who were beneath the rubble. That is White Helmet volunteer Ismail al-Abdullah speaking with my colleague Leila Fadl in February, just two weeks after the earthquake. In Washington, the response to the earthquake was fragmented, a product of Syria's own political fragmentation. We are determined to do what we can to address the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people. We've done that over the course of the 12-year civil war to the tune of billions of dollars. We do that through a different process. In Turkey, we have a partner in the government.

In Syria, we have a partner in the form of NGOs on the ground who are providing humanitarian support. And that is U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price speaking just after the earthquake. For Syrians in regime-controlled areas, earthquake relief faced another challenge. It would be quite ironic, if not even counterproductive, for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now, gassing them, slaughtering them, being responsible for much of the suffering that they've endured. The United States and the European Union have imposed strict economic sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Sanctions that are supposed to exempt humanitarian goods, but spook banks so much that they would rather not deal with Syria at all.

So days after the earthquake, the U.S. issued a six-month exemption to make it clear that critical earthquake relief to Syrian government territory is permitted. Consider this. The country was already buckling under 12 years of civil war. Bombings, torture, forced disappearances, millions displaced, all as the regime tried to quell the rebellion. That war is now mostly at a stalemate. The regime remains in power with the support of Russia and Iran. Arab states that once back the rebels are rebuilding ties with the Syrian government. The effectiveness of U.S. sanctions meant to hurt and isolate the regime is being questioned. Recently, a group of former U.S. officials and Syria experts urged President Biden to rethink U.S. policy and make sanctions more effective.

So what does this mean for people in regime strongholds of Syria living with the effects of all that? We'll have that story after the break. From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. It's Consider This from NPR. A massive earthquake, a dozen years of civil war, a regime determined to hold onto power, crippling economic sanctions. In nearly every part of Syria, daily life is a struggle. NPR's Aya Batraoui traveled to a government-controlled part of Syria, impacted by the earthquake and its aftershocks, to see what life is like there. I flew into Latakia a few weeks after February's earthquakes aboard a humanitarian

aid flight from the United Arab Emirates. Ten people who were severely injured in the earthquakes are carried onto this cavernous cargo plane that's equipped with medical beds and ventilators. They're airlifted back to Abu Dhabi because Syria can't provide them with the treatment they need. The UAE even sent Syria new ambulances, another need laid bare by the earthquakes. So why is Syria's health care system in such dire need of help? The answer depends on who you ask.

It's gotten really hard for us under U.S. sanctions. We've depleted a large amount of our stockpile of medicine, and in some cases we can't fix or upgrade our medical equipment. And this was really clear after the earthquakes. We didn't have what we needed to deal with this disaster. That's Dr. Hawazin Makhlouf, a senior physician at one of the hospitals here in Latakia. He says hospitals are lacking MRI machines, CAT scans, heart monitors, and even anesthesia and cancer medications. Oil and banking sanctions were toughened over the past decade to punish President Bashar al-Assad's government

as it attacked rebels, bombed civilians, and jailed tens of thousands. The U.S. says it sanctions target Assad's regime and not humanitarian assistance. But doctors in Syria say they have trouble importing basic supplies because foreign banks fear financial penalties. Dr. Mohamed Qusay Al Khalil is the director of Jebla's main public hospital, just south of Latakia. We're in the emergency room. He points toward two ventilators covered in plastic. They don't work, and the hospital can't buy new ones.

Like many in this part of Syria, he's a loyal supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, covered in plastic. They don't work, and the hospital can't buy new ones. Like many in this part of Syria, he's a loyal supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, whose photo hangs on every floor of this hospital. Dr. Al-Khalil blames U.S. sanctions for the shortages and constant electricity cuts. Syrians deserve a life of dignity and the best health care. How can they be punished like this? Outside the main lobby are photos of 14 nurses and medical staff killed here in 2016

when Islamic State suicide bombers targeted the city and this hospital as it was tending to the wounded. I come across two elevators that were damaged in the attack. And since then they haven't even been able to get the Italian parts to fix the elevators. So there's only one functioning elevator in this hospital. And when that one doesn't work or it needs maintenance, they literally have to carry patients up the stairs. Here, the x-ray department. Here, the x-ray department.

We take the stairs, and he shows me two x-ray machines. Only one of them works at this hospital that serves a million people in the area. In the prenatal ward, a newborn baby boy named Hamza is breathing with the help of a tiny oxygen mask. The metal cribs here are covered in deep orange rust. But it's not just hospitals struggling to cope from years of war. The head of Syria's civil defense says his teams didn't have enough equipment to save lives after the earthquakes. Major General Safwan Bahloul says they were in need of basic tools like jackhammers and hydraulic lifts. Sanctions should be left.

I don't think we could do any harm to the world if we do maintenance to our rescue gears or our lorries or our cars. The World Bank estimates the quakes caused over $5 billion in damage in Syria. Habloul says 10,000 homes were destroyed, including his own, in government-controlled areas. People here in Syria, they need a lot of help. We need a lot of food. We need a lot of fuel. We need a lot of support. After the earthquakes, the U.S. eased sanctions for six months. In a written statement, the State Department said this was intended to make clear that anyone can provide emergency aid to Syria without the risk of sanctions.

The U.S. has said sanctions, which the European Union also imposes, are supposed to prevent other countries from supporting Assad's government. But things are changing. Arab countries that once backed the rebels are rebuilding ties with Syria after the earthquakes and as their hopes of ousting Assad fade. This has raised questions about current U.S. policy in Syria and whether sanctions are the answer.

So there's no question, I think, that the sanctions are limiting the freedom of action of the Assad government and its ability to make war on the Syrian people. There's also no question that the sanctions are hurting the Syrian people. Howard Schatz is a senior economist at the Rand Corporation who's written about sanctions. He says the U.S. is faced with a tough choice. Is it more important to limit the freedom of action of the Assad government in its ability to attack, to make war on the Syrian people? Or is it more important to give the Assad government more freedom of action and alleviate the problems faced by the Syrian

people? That's the big choice. Former U.S. officials, Syrian activists, and experts recently called for an overhaul of U.S. policy in Syria. Among them is Mohammad Alai Ghanem, who heads policy at the Syrian American Council, a D.C.-based advocacy group. He accuses the Syrian government of siphoning off earthquake aid and blames Syria's suffering squarely on the Assad regime. He says that in the absence of stronger military support for rebels, sanctions remain one of the few options the U.S. has been willing to use. It's not the only tool in the toolbox left. It's the only tool in the toolbox that the United States and Europe are willing to use towards accountability in Syria. Now, if you take away that tool, the toolbox is empty. There are no tools left. He asks, without sanctions, what's left? That's the question Washington now faces,

even as the Biden administration insists on political change in Syria first. That was NPR's Aya Batraoui, reporting from Latakia, Syria. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org.