In the debate over whether sanctions on Syria do more to harm the country’s brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad or its civilians, millions living outside regime control are often, ironically, forgotten. The recent earthquake claimed more than 4,500 lives in northwest Syria, putting the spotlight on massive obstacles to providing aid in a region divided between Turkish-backed jihadi militias, al-Qaeda offshoot the al-Nusra Front, and the progressive, Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration.
This chequerboard region suffers under nested embargoes. Donors struggle to deliver aid due to sweeping sanctions which primarily hurt small business and ordinary civilians. This has been worsened by shattered infrastructure and Russia’s use of its Security Council veto to prevent crucial UN aid deliveries via Iraq and Turkey. Without this, Syrian government authorization is required, but both Turkey and Syria deny access, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC), leaving Kurds and minorities living under Turkish occupation near the border with nothing.
