10 Years of War in Syria

For ten years Syria has been torn apart by a devastating civil war. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions have been made refugees and countless others have been scarred by the war. To make things even worse, international sanctions on Syria have made the supply of humanitarian relief extremely difficult. ACN is calling on the international community to make easier provision of humanitarian relief to Syria.

By ACN Staff

A resident of the elderly house in Al-Midan district in Aleppo. (Credit: Ismael Martinez Sanchez/Aid to the Church in Need)

It has been 10 years since the beginning of Syria’s devastating civil war. As we approach the ten-year anniversary on the 15th March, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is calling on the US and European countries to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria. The Executive President of Aid to the Church in Need, Dr. Thomas Heine-Geldern said the following:

“It is our duty to provide help to the suffering civil population of Syria - and especially to the rapidly dwindling Christian minority. In their name I beg you to implement the existing international legal framework, which allows humanitarian exceptions to the embargo.”

Humanitarian relief from ACN being distributed in Syria by the Melkite Catholic Church. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Syria is currently under sanction by the international community. There are provisions for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Syria under the sanctions, but according to ACN the mechanism is not working properly. The system makes it extremely difficult to transfer money to Syria and also to deliver humanitarian related goods. Dr. Heine-Geldren admits that the sanctions do allow for money transfer on humanitarian ground to Syria in theory, but this is in practical terms often impossible. The banking system often automatically blocks any money transfer from Europe or the US to Syria. Dr Heine-Geldren elaborates further:

“Consequently, it becomes almost impossible for charitable organisations to transfer funds for humanitarian purposes to meet the needs of the suffering population.”

Money transfers are a vital part of the humanitarian response in Syria. It is often impracticable to ship humanitarian aid directly to partner organisations in Syria, as there are 14 million Syrians in need of humanitarian relief. Rather Church partners are transferred money to purchase humanitarian relief directly in Syria under strict reporting and accountability structures. Dr. Heine- Geldren explains “we normally send money for our counterparts to buy the food, medical help and clothing locally”. ACN believes that the US and European governments should give clear instructions to banks to allow money transfers for humanitarian relief to enter Syria as is permitted under the sanctions.

Humanitarian relief from ACN being distributed in Syria by the Armenian Orthodox Relief Cross. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Delivery of humanitarian goods are more difficult than money transfers under the sanctions. What are termed as dual-use goods fall outside of the exemptions made for humanitarian relief. A dual-use goods is for example a constituent part needed to manufacture explosives, but could also to be used to manufacture fertilizer. The problem is dual-use goods are defined very broadly. Powdered milk falls under the category of dual-use and cannot be imported into Syria as humanitarian relief, even though it is desperately needed to save the lives of malnourished babies.

There are also issues in receiving humanitarian goods from the Church partners’ side. They have to apply for special permits to receive aid. These permits are often extremely difficult to obtain as Dr. Heine-Geldren explains:

“To apply for permits, our partners often have to overcome insurmountable multilingual procedures put in place by the sanction authorities.”

Dr. Heine-Geldren calls on the international community to clarify what is permitted under the sanctions and what is not, and to also facilitate the provision of aid to the war-torn Middle Eastern country. In addition he calls for a clearer and easier permitting system for relevant NGOs. Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, Aid to the Church in Need has given almost €42 million in aid to help more than 900 humanitarian and pastoral programmes run by the Church in Syria. If you would like to help us in our work, please donating and keep the Syrian people in your prayers.