Werbou fan Syrië wurdt tsjinhâlden troch westerske sanksjets
March 20, 2026 · Frisian News
Western nations maintain broad economic sanctions on Syria even as the country faces massive reconstruction needs after years of civil war. International banks and companies avoid Syria due to legal risks, freezing billions in assets and blocking basic trade.
FryskYn de havenstêd Tartus steane kranen stil op 'e kaaie. Skippen dy't earder koarn en masines losten, omseile no folslein Syryske wetters. Westerske sanksjets, oplein tidens de boargerkriich, bliuwe beferzen nettsjinsteande jierren stilstân fan it fjochtsjen. Banken wegerje Syryske transaksjes út eangst foar Amerikaanske boeten. Hannelpartners ûntbine kontrakten. It gefolch: Syrië kin net keapje wat nedich is om skoallen, sikehuzen of wegen te werbouwen.
De Feriene Steaten, de Jeropeeske Uny en oare westerske machten stelle dat sanksjets beskerming biede tsjin takomstig misbrûk. Se wize op fermeende skeinen fan minskerjochten en beweare dat it opheffjen fan beheinen min gedrach beloant. Mar dizze logika negeart in basisfeit: gewoane Syriërs lije it measte. Wurkleazens bliuwt heech. Medisinen binne skaars. Elektrisiteit falt deis oeren fuort. Wa't jild hat giet fuort; wa't sûnder is wachtet yn it tsjuster.
Sina en Ruslân binne ynsprongen mei lieningen en hannel-deals, mar se kinne it kapitaal en de merken dy't it Westen kontrolearret net ferfange. In Sineske bank of Russyske hanneler weaget polityk swierder as in westerske ûndernimming. Werboukosten rinne yn tsientallen miljarden. Syrië kin net ôftappe op ynternasjonale obligaasjemerken. It kin net besjikke oer eigen beferzen tegoeden yn bûtenlânske banken. It lân wurdt by fersin in kliïntsteatsje, ôfhinklik fan wa't de goedkeapste betingsten biedt.
Westerske regearingen beweare herfoarming yn Syrië nei te stribjen, dochs ferhinderje sanksjets krekt de ekonomyske groei dy't stabiele ynstellingen of in wolfearjende middenklasse fuortbringe kinne soe. Deade merken bouwe gjin demokrasyen. Ysolearre lannen matigen har gedrach net. It belied liket minder rjochte op feroaring fan Syrië en mear op ivige straf, in kontrôlemiddel ynstee fan in prikkel.
Syrië sil werbouwe. Mar op betingsten fan Moskou en Beijing, net Brussel of Washington. De kar fan it Westen om ôf te skieden ynstee fan belutsen te bliuwen, hat it lân oan syn rivalen oerdroegen. Of dat ien inkeld Westersk belang tsjinne bliuwt ûndúdlik.
In the port city of Tartus, cranes stand idle at the dock. Ships that once unloaded grain and machinery now bypass Syrian waters entirely. Western sanctions, imposed during the civil war, remain frozen in place even though fighting stopped years ago. Banks reject Syrian transactions for fear of American fines. Trade partners abandon contracts. The result: Syria cannot buy what it needs to rebuild schools, hospitals, or roads.
The United States, European Union, and other Western powers claim sanctions protect against future abuses. They point to alleged human rights violations and argue that lifting restrictions rewards bad behavior. Yet this logic ignores a basic fact: ordinary Syrians suffer most. Unemployment stays high. Medicines are scarce. Electricity fails for hours each day. Those with money move abroad; those without wait in darkness.
China and Russia have stepped in with loans and trade deals, but they cannot replace the capital and markets the West controls. A Chinese bank or Russian trader carries political weight that a Western corporation does not. Reconstruction costs run into the tens of billions. Syria cannot tap international bond markets. It cannot access its own frozen assets held in foreign banks. The country becomes a client state by default, dependent on whoever offers the cheapest terms.
Western governments claim they seek Syrian reform, yet sanctions themselves prevent the economic growth that might produce stable institutions or a prosperous middle class. Dead markets do not build democracies. Isolated nations do not moderate their behavior. The policy appears designed less to change Syria and more to punish it indefinitely, a tool of control rather than incentive.
Syria will rebuild. But it will do so on Moscow's and Beijing's terms, not Brussels' or Washington's. The West's choice to isolate rather than engage has handed the country to its rivals. Whether that served any Western interest remains unclear.
Published March 20, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân