How the UAE pays Bashar al-Assad

Following the visit of UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs to Damascus in late 2021, it was announced that the UAE will construct a 300-megawatt solar power plant near Damascus.

arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/ar… In June 2024, PM Hussein Arnoussaid a company called Infinity Skylight had been tasked with rehabilitating Syria's largest power plant and that a memorandum of understanding had been signed with it for the establishment of a 300-megawatt solar power plant near Damascus.

Last week, @CarolineRose8 and I published this report, documenting the Assad regime's narrative and policies on narcotics.

The report analyzed 612 articles from SANA (2015-2022), official statements, UNODC submissions, and gazette announcements.

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newlinesinstitute.org/syria/the-syri… SANA articles primarily focus on domestic seizures rather than the more serious problem of cross-border smuggling.

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Here's what I'm gathering from multiple sources. It looks like a UN-brokered deal has been struck between Western donor states and the Assad regime to deliver aid to those affected by the recent earthquake:

Thread: 1/4 The US Treasury issued a six-month sanctions exemption for all transactions related to responding to the earthquake in Syria.

+sending the aid

2/4

BREAKING: The US Treasury issues a six-month sanctions exemption for all transactions related to responding to the earthquake in Syria.

This is a step in the right direction.

I've long argued that targeting the banking sector is ineffective and unethical.

1/4 Sanctioning the banking sector is
-a form of collective punishment: civilians pay much of the cost
-the Assad regime has the means to circumvent them
-They should be lifted in exchange for concessions.

Targeted primary and secondary sanctions need to be used far more often

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THREAD: Pope Francis met with the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), Khaled Hboubati, today and presented him with “valuable medals.”

Unless Hboubati was there to confess his sins, this is outrageous. The medals should be returned and here's why:

1/6 The SARC governs and channels much of the multi-billion dollar humanitarian response in regime-held Syria since the 2011 uprising.

SARC has been accused on numerous occasions of aid diversion, refusing to help civilians in opposition and besieged areas, and corruption.

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A huge effort from the @MEDirections on studying the regime's control over the operations of non-governmental organizations in #Aleppo with a focus on the role of UN agencies.

Here are some disturbing highlights.
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cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/hand…

Life is turning into hell for #Syrians in #Turkey

I had to double-check, because, at a first glance, the draconian measures that the Turkish Minister of Interior, Süleyman Soylu, announced two days ago at the Migration Board Meeting in Ankara sounded too extreme to be true. Syrians will now be banned from visiting relatives and family in northern Syria for the holiday of Eid Al-Adha.

Soylu said that Syrians in Turkey who wish to cross the borders into Syria will only receive one-way permits.

Outrageous! The UK Government, argues that arriving in the UK by boat is "deeply unfair because it advantages those with the means to pay people smugglers over vulnerable people who cannot."

So they crafted a "world-leading solution:" send them to RWANDA.
gov.uk/government/spe… Yes, Rwanda, where the notorious human rights abuser, president Kagame, won 99% of the vote in the latest elections!

But according to the Home Secretary, Rwanda is an "outward-looking county."

According to Johnson, Rwanda shares the UK's "humanitarian impulse".

THREAD on Syria's new cybercrime law which is now in force

According to Article 29, I can face up to 15 years in prison for my online tool for the exchange rates of the Syrian pound on the black market. 1/6 Here you can find the 15-years-in-prison worthy tool

karamshaar.com/exchange-rates
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An excellent investigation from @NYTBen and @hwaida_saad on the production of captagon in Syria.

nytimes.com/2021/12/05/wor…

Here’s what I didn’t know: “Much of the production and distribution” is overseen by Maher al-Assad’s Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian Army.

Soldiers guard some drug production facilities. Others bear signs declaring them closed military zones.

Thread
Quick comments on a few interesting studies and reports on #Syria that I've read recently. Narcotics is perhaps the only booming industry in Syria. This excellent report from @CoarGlobal summarizes news articles of seized drug shipments originating from the country since 2011.

See the sharp rise from 2019.
bit.ly/3v6e12J