"The UK is taking steps to make it easier for aid agencies to operate in Syria without breaching the sanctions that target Assad's regime. These Sanctions General Licences will further facilitate earthquake relief efforts in Syria," its statement read.
The first general license was issued by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to help deal with the aftermath of earthquakes, authorizing activities "which would otherwise have been prohibited by the asset freeze for specified groups or organisations, and their service providers."
The second license was issued by the Export Control Joint Unit, extending the "protection offered by the current humanitarian exception to petroleum prohibitions for UK-funded persons to all those conducting earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey."
Both licenses are valid from February 15 to August 15.
14 February 2023, 10:59 GMT
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said earlier in the month that sanctions should not interfere with humanitarian assistance to the Syrians. On February 9, the US Treasury also issued a general license, which authorized for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited due to sanctions.
Parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks on February 6. The Syrian Health Ministry said late Tuesday that the final death toll from the earthquake had reached 1,414 people, while 2,357 others were injured. However, this data does not include information on non-government controlled territories. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated the number of deaths in northwest Syria, which is not controlled by Damascus, at 5,000.