On Thursday, April 24, the United Kingdom officially announced the removal of the asset freeze previously imposed on Syria’s Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, and several intelligence agencies.
According to Reuters, the British Ministry of Finance published an online notice confirming that “the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, and the General Intelligence Directorate are among twelve Syrian entities that are no longer subject to the asset freeze.”
The agency highlighted that this move effectively marks the cancellation of sanctions introduced during the era of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
This development follows an earlier decision in March, when the British government removed twenty-four entities from its list of economic sanctions on Syria. At that time, the British Foreign Office stated that the removal included the cancellation of asset freeze orders, which had been part of a broader sanctions policy targeting the ousted Syrian regime, according to Reuters.
The entities removed from the sanctions list in March included several major economic players such as oil companies and financial institutions, notably the Central Bank of Syria.
Meanwhile, on February 27, European Union member states agreed to suspend parts of their sanctions regime on Syria, focusing on sectors critical to the economy. During a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers approved an exemption that affects sanctions in the banking, energy, and transportation sectors.
The Syrian interim government maintains that the sanctions have constituted a primary barrier to initiating economic recovery, rebuilding infrastructure, and achieving sustainable development.
Repeated calls have been made by the United Nations, along with Arab and Western nations, urging the lifting of sanctions as a necessary step toward reconstruction and long-term stability in Syria.
