The West must immediately lift sanctions on Syria amid the risk of the coronavirus seeping into the country from neighbors, otherwise Damascus will hold the US and its allies responsible for each victim of the epidemic, the official SANA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Syrian Foreign Ministry
BEIRUT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2020) The West must immediately lift sanctions on Syria amid the risk of the coronavirus seeping into the country from neighbors, otherwise Damascus will hold the US and its allies responsible for each victim of the epidemic, the official SANA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Syria has not so far confirmed any coronavirus cases. As part of preventive measures, the government suspended air traffic with all virus-hit countries and shut the land border with Lebanon. Educational institutions, restaurants, cafes and museums were also closed.
"The Syrian Arab Republic whose people have suffered and still suffer from the terrorist aggression and the illegitimate unilateral coercive measures which affect the life of the citizens and particularly the health sector, calls on the international community to respect the principles of the international humanitarian law and the sanctity of the human life, and to work on lifting those sanctions immediately, particularly in the current circumstances after the Coronavirus has spread in the neighboring countries," the ministry said, as quoted by the SANA.
The ministry expressed its solidarity with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and all countries subjected to unilateral sanctions, which curb efforts to confront the deadly coronavirus oubreak.
It added that Damascus "holds the U.S. and its allies ... fully responsible for every human victim of this pandemic through hindering the efforts which aim at confronting this virus."
Earlier, Iran - a country with the biggest COVID-19 outbreak after China and Italy - issued a similar call for sanctions relief and solidarity in fighting the pandemic.
