Switzerland further eases Syria sanctions to help earthquake victims

Thousands were killed in Syria and Turkey by the earthquake, and many more have been left injured or displaced. Keystone / Russian Defence Ministry Press S

Switzerland has adopted a temporary easing of European Union sanctions on Syria to allow humanitarian aid to reach the country affected by a huge earthquake last month.

Last week, Switzerland allowed some humanitarian groups to send money and economic aid to Syria regardless of sanctions.

The same measure has now been extended to NGOs that were exempted by the EU on February 23.

The latest set of sanction exemptions, relating to EU edicts, come into force on Friday and will only run for the next six months.

Some 50,000 people were killed in Syria and Turkey by the earthquake that struck on February 6. More than 6,000 of these victims were in Syria.

Many thousands more people were injured and millions have been displaced and left without permanent shelter.

Both sanctions and difficulty gaining access to war-torn Syria initially limited the amount of humanitarian aid that could reach the Middle East country.

Switzerland has mirrored EU sanctions on Syria that were were imposed when a civil war erupted in 2011.