Immediate release
March 1, 2023
End The Siege Campaign
Toronto- In solidarity with the Syrian people, suffering the unjust and unilateral coercive economic measures taken by the US and its European allies, the End the Siege Campaign has been established in cooperation between different popular movements and activists in the Arab world, Europe, and North America.
The End The Siege Campaign launches its first international action this Saturday, March 4th, 2023, in a series of synchronous protests in Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Canada, Morocco, Lebanon, UK, Slovakia, Ireland, and Germany. The event in Canada will take place at noon this Saturday in front of the US Consulate, 360 University Avenue, in Toronto at 12:00 pm.
Syrians are suffocated by these economic sanctions, with the lack of fuel, electricity, water, food and medical resources. These sanctions constitute, in fact, a siege and an act of genocide against the people of Syria,
Loloa Al Kasawat, organizer of the demonstration in Toronto, observed: “The brutal coercive economic sanctions against Syria have destroyed Syria’s economy, and impoverished the people, many of whom fled the countries as refugees to Europe and Canada. Our families in Syria exist without jobs, adequate food, heating, and electricity. These sanctions were illegal because they did not have the approval of the United Nations Security Council. But since 2013, Canada and its US Coalition partners have shamefully only intensified these coercive economic measures. We call on these countries permanently to remove all sanctions on Syria now.”
After the earthquake, because of western sanctions, there were huge difficulties in delivering relief supplies to Syria, which delayed access to survivors under the rubble. In addition, there is an acute shortage of medical equipment and supplies, in a country that has suffered for years from war and unjust sanctions.
We note that the US government has relaxed a part of its sanctions regime against Syria for six months in order supposedly to facilitate the flow of aid to earthquake-devastated cities, such as Aleppo and Latakia, through the Syrian government. We also note that the Canadian government says that it is not sanctioning humanitarian earthquake aid to Syria. This is not enough, however, because western financial institutions will not facilitate the money transfers required to activate the flow of aid because of the fear of stiff governmental fines, penalties, and reprisals.
We call on the Biden Administration and the Trudeau government to do the right thing: permanently end its coercive economic measures against Syria.
The event this Saturday will be the first of more to come. The campaign is expected to expand in other countries in the following weeks. End the Siege Campaign in Canada will be hosted in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto
For further details please contact:
Lulwa Kassawat
416-876-1509
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090837361563
Twitter: https://twitter.com/endthesiege2023
