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Lifted but not arrived: Syria after the end of sanctions

· Helfen statt Blockieren editorial team

Since May 2025 the EU and the United States have lifted their economic sanctions on Syria step by step. Money and trade are still arriving only slowly. The case shows that lifting works more slowly than imposing, and that besides the law, the caution of banks and the situation inside the country count too.

$216 bnreconstruction needs according to the World Bank, about ten times annual outputGlobal Governance Institute, 12 Aug 2026
33 → 90%share of people in poverty, before the war and todayUNDP via Global Governance Institute
24 Aug 2026US rescinds the designation as a state sponsor of terrorismPublic Notice 13114
about 1,400killed in coastal violence in March 2025, mostly Alawite civiliansUN Commission of Inquiry, 14 Aug 2025

The way out of sanctions

After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, the EU and the US began to dismantle the sanctions they had imposed on Syria since 2011 and in part for decades. The EU lifted its economic sanctions in May 2025 and in May 2026 also ended the partial suspension of its 1977 cooperation agreement with Syria. It kept the listings of officials of the old regime.

The United States proceeded in several steps. Executive Order 14312 of 30 June 2025 ended the Syria sanctions programme from 1 July 2025 and revoked six earlier orders. At the same time it broadened the basis for measures against former Assad regime officials, captagon drug trafficking and serious human rights abuse; it excluded relief for “ISIS or other terrorist organizations”. In December 2025 Congress repealed the 2019 Caesar Act, which had threatened penalties on firms in third countries, as part of the defence budget. Some lawmakers wanted to tie the repeal to the protection of religious minorities; it was passed without conditions but with regular reports to Congress on minority rights and counterterrorism. On 24 August 2026 Secretary of State Marco Rubio rescinded Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, in place since 29 December 1979; the same day the US Treasury removed the group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham from the SDN list.

Not everyone moved in the same direction. On 19 December 2025 the United Kingdom imposed new sanctions on four people linked to the old regime and on two people and three armed groups linked to the new army, which it holds responsible for attacks on civilians during the coastal violence of March 2025.

  1. Law: EUThe EU lifts its economic sanctions; listings of officials of the old regime remain.
  2. Law: USExecutive Order 14312 ends the Syria programme from 1 Jul 2025; measures against Assad associates, captagon trafficking and human rights abusers remain.
  3. ArrivalWorld Bank grant of 146 million US dollars for electricity.
  4. Law: USThe Caesar Act is repealed with the defence budget, without conditions, with reporting duties on minorities and counterterrorism.
  5. Law: UKNew sanctions on those responsible for violence against civilians, including groups linked to the new army.
  6. Law: EUThe partial suspension of the 1977 cooperation agreement ends.
  7. ArrivalSyria remains on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring (“grey list”).
  8. ArrivalWorld Bank approves 100 million US dollars for the financial sector; Syrian firms call bank reluctance the biggest obstacle.
  9. Law: USState sponsor of terrorism designation rescinded; the group HTS removed from the SDN list.

Why the money does not arrive

The need is enormous. The World Bank puts reconstruction costs at at least 216 billion US dollars, about ten times annual output; according to the UN Development Programme, the share of people in poverty rose from about 33 percent before the war to about 90 percent. The World Bank gave a grant of 146 million US dollars for electricity in June 2025 and approved another 100 million for modernising the financial sector in August 2026.

The biggest obstacle, however, according to an analysis by the Global Governance Institute in Brussels of 12 August 2026, is no longer the law but caution. Syrian firms report that banks, above all in the EU and the US, still refuse Syria-related payments; they call this the single largest obstacle to trade. Bankers and investors raised the problem at a private sector dialogue in 2026. In addition, according to the FATF list of June 2026, Syria remains under increased monitoring for deficiencies in combating money laundering. Whether the FATF plenary in October 2026 changed this could not be checked by the editorial deadline. The analysis recommends joint guidance from European supervisors confirming that Syria-related business is permitted and describing the expected due diligence, rather than new laws.

This website knows the pattern from other cases: what is permitted still does not get paid, because banks weigh the risk of an error more heavily than the business. The article “Banks and de-risking” explains why; “Over-compliance” shows what the EU has done about it.

Many figures on investment in Syria are declarations of intent by governments and companies. We do not cite them here, because it cannot be checked how much of it flows.

The other side: the situation inside the country

Anyone speaking about the end of sanctions must also speak about the new government. In March 2025, according to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, about 1,400 people were killed in coastal violence, mostly civilians from Alawite communities. On 14 August 2025 the commission found that members of the transitional government’s forces had extrajudicially executed, tortured and ill-treated civilians, in a widespread and systematic way; it found no plan or order by the government. Armed groups loyal to Assad also likely committed war crimes, it said. A government fact-finding committee named 298 suspects and 238 killed members of the army and security forces; it found no evidence that the military leadership ordered the attacks.

Supporters of lifting without conditions rely on economic recovery to stabilise the country. Critics, in the US Congress for instance lawmakers who wanted conditions to protect religious minorities, want relief tied to progress. The United Kingdom has chosen a middle way with targeted sanctions against those responsible on both sides.

What Syria means for the Cuba debate

Syria shows two things. First: lifting an embargo does not by itself make a payment possible. On the Syrian pattern, an end to the US embargo on Cuba would not automatically bring back banks, insurers and shipping lines that have withdrawn over decades. Second: the situation inside the country counts. In Cuba Prisoners Defenders counted 1,351 political prisoners (September 2026); Amnesty International called the releases of 2025 selective. Anyone who wants to tie lifting in Syria to conditions will ask the same question for Cuba; so will anyone who found unconditional lifting right in Syria. Both halves for Cuba are covered in “Cuba: human rights and political prisoners”.

This article is information, not legal advice. It relies on the sources listed; where experts disagree, it names the positions and who holds them. “Helfen statt Blockieren” is non-partisan.

Sources

All online sources accessed on 3 November 2026.

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