With public attention now intensely focused on the conflict in Syria and the potential impact of U.S. government action, military or otherwise, the time is ripe to look at the impact of U.S. legal restrictions on humanitarian organizations. Over the past year the difficulties for humanitarian organizations (NGOs) attempting to aid civilians in the conflict in Syria have been well documented. Calls for unimpeded access have been heard from the U.S. Dept. of State, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos, Human Rights Watch and others. Escalation of the conflict is likely to further exacerbate this problem.
NGOs face enormous hurdles providing aid in Syria, including sometimes hostile officials, both in the government and opposition that deny access to civilians in need of aid. As a Dept. of State official has noted, “Humanitarian workers are risking their lives to provide life-saving assistance to those suffering and have worked tirelessly with contacts on all of the conflict to attempt to negotiate humanitarian pauses to allow aid delivery.”[1]
With multiple parties to the conflict controlling different parts of the country, NGOs need to cross between areas controlled by the Syrian government and various opposition forces. In order to do so, they must negotiate with the controlling powers in order to bring in personnel and supplies to operate programs for civilian victims of the conflict.
U.S. sanctions programs and national security laws have an impact on these operations, as they prohibit transactions with listed terrorist organizations and state sponsors of terrorism, or any form of “material support” to them. Because the Syrian government has been listed as a sponsor of terrorism since 1979, and because the al Nusra Front, a non-state armed group fighting with the Syrian opposition was also listed as a terrorist organization in December 2012, these laws make accessing civilians in areas they control more complicated.
In September 2011 the Department of Treasury took positive steps that partially alleviate this problem by issuing General License II, which allows NGOs to engage with the Syrian government to arrange for and operate programs.[2] However, no such license covers engagement with the al Nusra Front, which was listed as a terrorist organization. Since it is often difficult to distinguish the different factions of the opposition forces, and some groups may be “associated with” al Nusra, NGOs trying to reach civilians in opposition controlled areas can face difficult legal questions. This is exacerbated by the lack of clarity on when NGOs must apply for a license and what degree of engagement with controlling powers is permissible. Penalties for violating the sanctions and material support laws include significant fines and jail time, which can have a chilling effect on NGOs attempting to reach civilians.
U.S. legal restrictions should not place obstacles in the way of NGOs operating in Syria, which already face significant dangers in the operating environment. All steps in the sequence of program operation, from negotiating access to distribution of assistance to civilians, should be permitted. The fact that a listed terrorist group may receive an incidental or indirect benefit should not impair the entire process. With over eight million Syrians in need of assistance, humanitarian principles require nothing less.
Some Steps to Support Greater Access
The U.S. government can take immediate steps to clarify that NGOs can engage in humanitarian programs in all parts of Syria when for the purpose of accessing civilians and alleviating human suffering. In order address both the sanctions and material support legal issues, these steps could include: