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UK hands 'enhanced' trade status to Syria despite brutal civil war

Conservative ministers have offered "enhanced" trade status to Syria, long accused of war crimes.

A new post-Brexit developing country trade scheme will reduce tariffs for 65 countries from next year and offer simpler rules for shipping to the UK.

Originally, countries wishing to have "enhanced preferences" in the scheme had to sign and comply with 27 international treaties.

These include issues of racism, sexism, forced labor, child labor, torture and corruption.

However, ministers are now making decisions based on the country's "economic vulnerability" and "rejecting" that requirement.

The British government defended the change, arguing that Syria was already subject to "strong sanctions" that ensured it would not benefit the regime.

A Syrian man with a baby walks through the rubble of a destroyed building in Aleppo, 2016 (

Image:

AFP/Getty Images)

Changes made eight more countries "enhanced priorities" - Algeria, Congo, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Nigeria, Niue, Tajikistan, Syria.

Labour's Emily Thornberry expressed concern about the change when she was shadow trade secretary last year. It's irrelevant.

Syria has suffered a brutal decade-long civil war that has left more than 350,000 combatants and civilians dead, according to the United Nations.

A 2013 United Nations investigation found "massive evidence" of President Bashar Assad's involvement in war crimes.

Damascus in ruins after bombing

Christian Benedict, Amnesty International The Crisis Response Manager at International UK said:

"If the individuals and companies involved in Assad's atrocities were to be the beneficiaries of these new trading agreements, it would be sheer farce."

War-torn Syria trades with the UK at around £3 million a year, a small amount by global standards.

A UK government spokesperson said:

"These sanctions must ensure that changes in trade do not benefit those who support or benefit from the existing regime."

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