US eases humanitarian aid restrictions for Syrians for 6 months

WASHINGTON

The Biden administration announced Monday it is easing some restrictions on Syria, issuing a six-month sanctions relief measure to allow delivery of essential supplies.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License 24, enabling aid groups and companies to provide critical services such as electricity, water, and sanitation without seeking case-by-case approvals.

It also authorizes transactions supporting the sale, supply, storage, or donation of energy -- including petroleum, natural gas, and electricity -- within Syria. In addition, it permits transactions necessary for processing noncommercial personal remittances to Syria, including through the Central Bank of Syria.

However, it does not authorize any transactions involving military or intelligence entities, or any persons acting for or on behalf of such entities.

The Treasury said the authorization does not unblock property or interests of sanctioned entities, adding that it includes Assad, his associates, the Syrian government, the Central Bank of Syria, or Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The authorization is for six months, as the US "continues to monitor the evolving situation on the ground," said the US Department of Treasury in a statement.

“The end of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal and repressive rule, backed by Russia and Iran, provides a unique opportunity for Syria and its people to rebuild,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “During this period of transition, Treasury will continue to support humanitarian assistance and responsible governance in Syria.”

The US has withheld lifting broader sanctions until assurances are provided that Syria’s new leadership, dominated by HTS, will protect the rights of women and ethnic minorities, according to an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal.

The US on Dec. 20 announced it will no longer be pursuing the $10 million “Rewards for Justice” bounty on the HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The announcement came during a visit by senior US officials, including Barbara Leaf, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, to Damascus days after Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The takeover came after HTS fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

The Caesar Act, which sanctions former Syrian government officials, including Assad, for war crimes against Syrians, was recently extended for an additional five years until 2029 through the defense budget passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden.