Syria 'Settles' Businessman's Status, Sanctions Remain Firmly Unsettled
The New Arab breathlessly announces Syria has 'settled the status' of Mohammad Hamsho, a businessman sanctioned by the US, UK, and EU for profiting off the Assad regime's brutality. (Who knew 'settling status' was regime-speak for 'Come on back, the economy needs skimming'?) This financial rehabilitation, presented as a move towards stability, sidesteps the inconvenient truth that Hamsho's fortune
was built while the regime systematically destroyed its own country and people. He is just one of many regime-connected figures whose wealth remains untouched by sanctions while average Syrians face a catastrophic economic crisis. One might wonder if this 'settlement' is less about national reconciliation and more about the Assad regime realizing it needs its sanctioned cronies to inject some
capital—looted or otherwise—back into a collapsing economy. It appears Mr. Hamsho can be accused of profiting from war, face international sanctions, but as long as he's useful to Assad, 'all is forgiven.' How many Syrian refugees fleeing the very conditions Hamsho benefited from get their 'status settled' so easily?