Syrian Americans divided on Treasury's sanctions exemption for earthquake aid

The U.S. Treasury Department has lifted some sanctions on Syria to allow earthquake relief for six months, drawing mixed reaction from Syrian Americans in Michigan and across the country.

The move comes after the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and others called earlier this week for the U.S. government to end sanctions it had placed on Syria over concerns with its rulers.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a statement Thursday announcing authorization for 180 days "all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations." The new license, titled Authorizing Transactions Related to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Syria, was signed by Andrea Gacki, the director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

"I want to make very clear that U.S. sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of lifesaving efforts for the Syrian people," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said. "While U.S. sanctions programs already contain robust exemptions for humanitarian efforts, today, Treasury is issuing a blanket General License to authorize earthquake relief efforts so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding.”

Gacki said "all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Syria that would otherwise be prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 542 (SySR), are authorized through 12:01 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time,Aug. 8, 2023."

The move is expected to impact many in metro Detroit, which has a sizable Middle Eastern population closely following news of the earthquake and trying to help.

The Treasury Department wants to be "making sure the message is loud and clear" that the sanctions should not end up blocking aid to victims, Treasury spokeswoman Morgan Finkelstein told the Free Press on Friday.

The Treasury Department wants to ensure that individuals are not scared to donate money through wire transfers or for nations who may consider sending items such as an excavator to help rescue victims, Finkelstein said. The six-month deadline could be extended if needed.

After the earthquake, some Arab Americans and politicians called for the U.S. to end its sanctions.

"Sanctions are an act of war," the Libertarian Party said in a tweet Tuesday. "They harm peaceful citizens more than the government, and they increase support for the government being sanctioned. The US should remove all sanctions against Syria as its people recover from this horrible earthquake."

More:Michiganders with ties to Syria and Turkey mobilize to help earthquake victims

Supporters of the move say it will help individuals and groups more easily deliver aid where it's needed, while opponents say it will only help groups and militias close to Syria's rulers, not the people in need. In metro Detroit, several charities and others are mobilizing to raise money and goods for victims of the earthquake that has killed more than 24,000 in Syria and Turkey.

Other sanctions the U.S. has in place — such as those targeting some Syrian government officials accused of human rights abuses — remain in place.

Abed Ayoub, a Dearborn native with ancestral roots in Syria who's the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, praised the Treasury Department's decision. The committee released a statement Thursday in support of the move.

"This is a big deal," Ayoub told the Free Press. "It's a very strong statement. ... This swift action by the Treasury Department is very welcomed. It's the right move by the department and the Biden administration. And it shows that they understand the magnitude of this disaster. They understand that sanctions do impact the flow of humanitarian aid, even if that's not the intention."

Ayoub said "we need to ensure that everybody that needs aid gets it ... And tonight, the Treasury Department took a significant step in restoring faith in their outreach and in faith that we will be able to get aid not just from the U.S. but from the global community into Syria."

Ayoub said the group worked with Syrians on all sides of the political spectrum, including those who oppose Assad, to help lift the sanctions.

But other Syrian Americans strongly objected to the decision by the Treasury Department.

"It's unfortunate," Dr. Yahya Basha, a Royal Oak doctor born in Syria who is a longtime leader in Michigan's Arab American community and opposes the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "... The money will go to feed militias (allied with) the Syrian government ... who kill the people."

Basha said Assad's government has been financially devastated after a decade of war and is now getting little support from allies Iran and Russia. And so the government could siphon aid sent to Syria, Basha said.

Basha said the Syrian Americans he's speaking to are "kind of surprised" by the lifting of sanctions "because they thought the administration was much better."

Basha's views are echoed by Wa'el Alzayat, a Syrian American who is CEO of Emgage, a Muslim-American political advocacy group with a chapter in Michigan.

"No matter what the pro-Syrian regime-Kremlin trolls tell you, if you want to help Syrians, get them the aid directly," Alzayat said in a tweet Friday. "Not through Assad."

He called the U.S. government's lifting of sanctions "negligent."

In an op-ed published Thursday in the Washington Post before the Treasury made its announcement, Alzayat blasted what he called "misplaced calls to lift sanctions on a regime that displaced millions of people now affected by the earthquake."

Ayoub said the Treasury's move will help lessen the fear some Syrian Americans may have about sending money.

"It's a relief," Ayoub said. "This is a very emotional time for many of us here as we try to get aid and help our families, help our friends and help our country."

A Syrian American group in Troy, the American Syrian Arab Cultural Association, announced this week a campaign "appealing to your generosity and spirit of compassion" to collect funds to support relief efforts.

In Michigan, there are 12,525 Syrian Americans and 2,507 Turkish Americans, according to 2019 census data. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Dearborn, whose district includes cities with high concentrations of Arab Americans, has not made a public statement on the sanctions debate. A spokesman for Tlaib did not return an email from the Free Press seeking comment.

Turkish Americans with the Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan are also working to help raise money and gather food and goods to be sent to Turkey.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or Twitter @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Earthquake aid exemption gets mixed reactions from Syrian Americans