EU adds eight businessmen and two companies to Syria sanctions list

European Ministers added on Monday 8 Syrian individuals and 2 companies to the Syria sanctions list, whose activities directly benefited the President’s Bashar al-Assad’s regime, including through projects located on lands expropriated from persons displaced by the conflict.
The sanctions list now includes 277 persons and 71 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze, with the list being reviewed annually.
EU sanctions against Syria, first imposed in 2011, foresee an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank held in the EU, and export restrictions on equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression, as well as on equipment and technology for the monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications.
Relations with the Syrian government have been suspended since 2011, following an escalation of the conflict and grave violations of human rights in the country.