Damascus-Sana
Patriarch Mar Ignatius Avram II, Patriarch of Antioch and the rest of the East, for the Syriac Orthodox Church, the supreme president of the Syriac Church in the world, called on US President Joe Biden to abolish the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria that target its people for their livelihood and exacerbate their suffering in light of the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
In a message sent by Patriarch Avram II and a number of church leaders and political actors around the world to Biden on the occasion of his assumption of the presidency: The immediate cancellation of these measures has become an urgent matter in light of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic and its coincidence with the difficult conditions and the repercussions that these illegal measures have left, especially on the health sector. And health care system.
The message reiterated the findings of the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Dohan, at the end of last December, that the coercive measures against Syria were the cause of the harsh conditions that Syrians live in, especially in light of the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, by denying them access to health and humanitarian aid.
The letter pointed out that these conclusions reflect a growing consensus among humanitarian agencies and human rights organizations that this form of illegal "punitive" measures against civilians exacerbates the suffering of the Syrian people in an "unprecedented" way.
The letter called on Washington to stop using these unilateral measures to achieve its interests at the expense of the people, especially through the unjust sanctions imposed on Syria, which were among the reasons for the displacement of many.
The letter also referred to the warnings of David Beasley, the former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program that millions of Syrians are suffering from severe pressures resulting from the great damage to the health care system during the years of crisis, reiterating that the coercive measures imposed by the United States exacerbate the suffering of the Syrian people. .