Persecution Watchdog praises President Donald Trump’s pledge to ease Syrian sanctions and provide warnings.
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Joel Verdkamp, head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International (CSI), said CBN News’ Trump pledge is welcomed by his organization. He also described the drastic impact that long-standing sanctions have had on the Syrian people.
“The impact of the sanctions was really devastating,” he said. “The United States and its allies imposed these sanctions on Syria in 2011, just like the civil war between the dictatorship of (former Syrian leader) Bashar al-Assad and the jihadist-led coalition of rebels united with al-Qaeda.”
Weldkamp continued. “And perhaps the goal of the sanctions was to punish the Syrian government for crimes against the Syrian people or to pressure diplomatic solutions. But the effect was to really destroy the country.”
He recalls living in Syria a year before the sanctions. Although it was not a wealthy country at the time, he said it was a middle-class “middle-income” country. Now, the situation is tragically tragic.
“More than 90% of Syrians live in poverty today,” Wöldkamp said. “As malnutrition is worse, more than half a million Syrian children are shorter than they should have.”
He said much of this pain is driven by sanctions. It is speculated that many people have been speculated to put pressure on Syria to enact a change in the regime.
“The civil war in Syria was truly a proxy war between the United States and Russia,” Verdkamp said. “And for a long time it seemed Russia won because Russia supported the Syrian government and it seemed that the Syrian government really won that day.”
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He said, “Of course, the Syrian government collapsed in December, and as President Trump said in Riyadh, sanctions seemed to have served their function.”
In his announcement, Trump also discussed his normal relationship with Syria.
“Syria, they had a share of tragedy, war and murder for many years,” the president said. “That’s why my administration is taking the first step towards restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in over a decade.”
Veldkamp said the CSI opposes “wide-range sanctions” in Syria, targeting the entire country and opposes harming all citizens. They wanted to see these sanctions hit. Persecution Watchdog said Syrian Christians have long said this is essential if their followers “will survive as a religious group in Syria.”
Despite what he considers as a positive step in the right direction surrounding his sanctions pledge, Veldkamp also heard alarms and warnings.
“The problem is this regime change that appears to have been part of what led to the sanctions being replaced by al-Qaeda linked dictatorships and the brutal Syrian dictatorships,” he said. “The Syrian President, the current ruler of Syria, is the founder of Syria’s al-Qaeda. He was once called Abu Mohamad al-Jolani. Now he goes by the name Ahmed al-Sharaa.
This development has sparked the fear of religious persecution of Christians and other groups, as the militant Islamic regimes often carry death, genocide and chaos.
Veldkamp said other groups have already fallen prey to some of these elements.
“In recent months, we have seen a huge massacre of religious minorities in Syria,” he said. “We have seen thousands of Alawi Muslims killed by pro-government forces on the Syrian coast. We have now seen the attack in another community called Druze.
According to Weldkamp, Trump’s declaration of sanctions must come with guarantees of protection for Christians and other groups.
“Even if these sanctions are taken away, the US needs to really focus on this and really think about what else can be done to make sure Christianity is not destroyed in Syria,” he said.
Veldkamp called out images and videos from Trump shaking hands with Alshara in “mindblowing” especially considering the past of the newly created Syrian leader terrorists. And there’s a lot to consider – a rich nation that simply allows Islamic expressions that restrain religious freedom by stepping into the fold and supporting a new regime.
All of this fuel is concerned that religious freedoms present in Syria will now be wiped out.
“Now Syria is moving forward to become like Saudi Arabia,” he said. “We are at risk of losing this diversity. The fact that Christians have been in Syria for the last two,000 years may be on the verge of losing it if the Trump administration doesn’t pay attention.”
Ultimately, Veldkamp said it was essential to lock in “solid assurances” for the freedom of Syrian religion, especially as these broader sanctions could potentially be lifted. If such a pledge is not made, Veldkamp warned about what would unfold.
“One possibility is that Syria will become a place like Iran. For example, women are not allowed to discover hair in public places,” he said. “If alcohol cannot be bought or sold, if Christian religion cannot be manifested in public places, for example, under Sharia’s law, Christians cannot testify against Muslims in court.
Veldkamp added: “However, today Syrian Christians are not willing to embrace this type of second-rate status where there is always a risk of being attacked when they demonstrate their Christian identity.
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