It is 'very important' to suspend economic sanctions on Syria: UN commission head

GENEVA 

The chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria on Friday called for the suspension of economic sanctions on Syria, saying they hurt the common Syrian people.

"I think that it is very important to suspend economic sanctions because these economic sanctions that were defined by some member states, they hurt the common people, the Syrian people, not the ruling class or the government, or the elites," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told Anadolu.


Describing the economic and social situation in Syria as "terrible" and "a very bad situation," Pinheiro said sanctions are "not a good contribution" to rebuilding the country.


"Of course, it will be necessary to have international cooperation for the reconstruction," he said.


Pinheiro also said that the commission is following the situation of 7 million refugees very closely.


"Türkiye has been very generous, we always have praised how these refugees were received in Türkiye, but also in Jordan and Lebanon," he said. "We always said that it's important to have a safe return with the guarantees that people will not go to prison just because they are returning to the country."

"I think it is very important that the refugees will be able to come to the country," he added.

Regarding the continued Israeli attacks on Syria, Pinheiro said that Israel decided to break the 50-year agreement concerning the Golan Heights with these attacks.


"These strikes of Israel need to stop because there is nothing in the international norm, international law that you are supposed to do preventive attacks," he said.