Lift the sanctions against Syria.
There are times when the numbers connected to disasters are so immense that it is hard to wrap my head around them.
The death toll from the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has climbed to more than 15,000 people.
The World Health Organization estimates up to 23 million people could be affected by the earthquake across both countries.
In Biden’s State of the Union message he said not a word about the catastrophe.
Seventy countries and 14 international organizations have offered Turkey relief following the quake including the United States, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Israel and Russia.
The international aid situation in Syria is less clear. So far, the UAE, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and India have already sent relief directly to regime-controlled airports. Others such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, China, Canada and the Vatican have pledged aid.
However, the U.S. has sanctions against Syria in place and that has hurt disaster aid getting to Syrian victims of the devastating earthquake.
Many aid organizations are asking the United States to lift the sanctions against Syria.
U.S. sanctions are a serious obstacle to providing Syrians with disaster relief and helping them to rebuild.
The U.S. should move quickly to suspend or lift as many of its broad sanctions as it can so that aid agencies and other governments in the region will be able to address the disaster
The Biden administration has so far shown no inclination to ease sanctions or reach out to the Syrian government to coordinate humanitarian assistance for people in government-controlled areas.