(AGENPARL) – BRUXELLES lun 05 giugno 2023 As the civil war in Syria enters its 13th year, and amidst ongoing political instability and armed clashes, the humanitarian and economic situation in the country continues to deteriorate. Half of the country’s 22.1 million population is internally or externally displaced and 15.3 million people – nearly 70 % of Syrians – are in need of humanitarian assistance. Following the deadly earthquake in early February 2023, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated further. Since the beginning of the conflict there in 2011, Syria has been under one of the most extensive sets of sanctions in the world. Since the early days of the conflict, the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on members and supporters of the regime of Bashar al-Assad as well as sectors of the economy benefiting the regime; since then, the scope of the measures has been expanded further. EU sanctions are designed to have minimal impact on the civilian population, and contain exceptions (exemptions and derogations) to the prohibitions, to avoid impeding the delivery of humanitarian assistance to and inside the country. Nevertheless, humanitarian operators report that unintended ‘side-effects’ of the sanctions have complicated their activities. To mitigate this, the EU has been engaging with all stakeholders to find solutions. The EU has been at the forefront of providing humanitarian, development, economic and stabilisation assistance, channelled through humanitarian operators to the Syrian population. Together with its Member States, the EU is the biggest donor to the Syrian people. However, in line with its strategy on Syria, the EU does not provide reconstruction assistance to the Syrian regime, pending implementation of concrete steps outlined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015). The European Parliament has been vocal in expressing its concerns over the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Syria, condemning the violence and attacks, including on humanitarian aid workers, mostly by the Syrian regime, but also by other parties. Parliament supports the EU’s approach to sanctions, and advocates the scaling-up of humanitarian assistance.

Fonte : © Unione europea, 2023 – PE

Fonte/Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/it/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)749765