Syrian business people in the UAE expect their commercial ties with their home country to grind to a halt after fresh sanctions were imposed yesterday on the war-torn country.
"This will make it even more difficult for business with Syria," said Mahmoud, a Syrian businessman living in Dubai who asked for his real name to be withheld out of fear for the safety of his relatives.
"I have stopped most business dealings with companies [in Syria], but more sanctions mean there will be even less opportunities."
The central bank and seven cabinet ministers will be targeted by the EU actions, aimed at further weakening Bashar Al Assad, Syria's president, and his regime.
A ban on the trade of gold and other precious metals with Syrian institutions was also included in the measures. Cargo flights from the country will also be barred from the EU, although passenger services will not be similarly restricted.
Syria's economy is already reeling from nearly a year of brutal conflict as Mr Al Assad cracks down on opposition.
Adding to the economic woeis a raft of international sanctions from the EU, US and the Arab League. The EU has already imposed an embargo on the country's oil and a travel ban and asset freeze on Mr Al Assad.
But the latest action goes further.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, said the sanctions would "further restrict the access to finance" of Mr Al Assad's government.
In a statement after two-hours of talks about Syria, EU foreign ministers said they would impose "additional measures targeting the regime...as long as the repression continues."
Syrians working in the UAE supported the measures.
"This is an extra nail in the coffin of the Syrian economy," said Nasser, a consultant. "It will definitely affect trade, which will go down, but at this stage cabinet ministers are more worried about their lives than their bank accounts."
Many cabinet ministers are already likely to have moved their cash outside Syria to neighbouring Lebanon or elsewhere, he said.
Close to 100 billion Syrian pounds (Dh6.29bn), more than a fifth of all funds on deposit, have left the Syrian banking system since the conflict began last year.
Foreign exchange reserves have fallen from US$19.5 billion (Dh71.62bn) before the unrest to less than $14bn at the end of last year.
The country's economic output fell by 3.6 per cent last year, according to IHS Global Insight. It expects the economy to rebound by only 1.5 per cent this year.
"Economic sanctions are having a material adverse impact on the economy in the form of shortages of daily necessities, the rationing of electricity and severe job cutbacks by businesses," wrote regional economists at the Institute of International Finance in a report released earlier this month.
But the report further noted that the country's relative self-sufficiency and open borders with Libya should help it to overcome the pain of the sanctions in the coming months.
tarnold@thenational.ae
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
