Families of Americans missing in Syria urge Caesar sanctions relief
The remaining US sanctions on Syria may be hindering the search for the remains of Americans detained and killed by the former Assad regime.
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WASHINGTON — For years, they accepted the painful reality that a lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and war-torn Syria made it impossible to bring their loved ones home. But with Bashar al-Assad and his government now ousted, the families of US citizens forcibly disappeared in Syria say sanctions have become the main obstacle.
“An American law is preventing the recovery of missing Americans,” said Ohio-based Danny Samin, whose Syrian American father, Jamil Samin, vanished into the Assad regime’s security apparatus over a decade ago.
Before his abduction in the Syrian city of Homs in March 2013, Samin was a prominent businessman active in the area’s Greek Orthodox community. He volunteered as a US Embassy warden, assisting fellow Americans in Syria, and used his medical warehouse to provide mothers with baby formula during the Syrian government’s offensive in Homs.
