⁍ Syria’s foreign minister accused U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration of attempting to suffocate Syrians with sanctions.
⁍ New U.S. sanctions have further crippled the war-torn country’s already crumbling economy by prohibiting foreign companies trading with Damascus.
⁍ Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem likened the effect of the sanctions to the death of Floyd, a Black American who died in May after a white police officer knelt on his neck.
– Syria’s foreign minister accused the US of attempting to suffocate Syrians with sanctions “just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States.” In a pre-recorded video addressed to the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Walid al-Moualem compared the impact of the so-called Caesar Act, which went into effect in June under President Trump, to the death of Floyd, a black American who died in May after a white police officer knelt on his neck, Reuters reports. “The real purpose of the Act is to put pressure on Syrians, their livelihoods, and their daily lives,” Al-Moualem said. “It is an inhumane attempt to suffocate Syrians, just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States.” The US mission to the UN did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-assembly-syria/syria-accuses-us-using-sanctions-to-suffocate-syrians-like-george-floyd-idUSKBN26H12C