Syria Victims Fund

While millions of Syrian victims have been living in worsening conditions over the past 13 years, States have been collecting hundreds of millions of euros linked to violations in Syria: fines, penalties, and forfeitures for sanctions violations, support to terrorist organizations, and financial crimes. Syrian victims have a moral right to these funds.

At present, the United States and many European countries are effectively profiting off violations of international law in Syria. While there are very limited avenues to try perpetrators for their war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria—whether committed by militaries, armed groups, or designated terrorist groups, allied with the Assad regime or against it—States have taken measures to ensure some form of accountability and limit harm.

Last month, more than 400 Yazidi Americans filed a federal lawsuit against the French cement company Lafarge S.A. and its Syrian subsidiary, alleging that the companies aided and abetted and conspired with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Nusrah Front (ANF). This is not the first time that Lafarge has made the news for its wrongful conduct in Syria.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco recently announced at the Munich Security Conference that the United States transferred nearly $500,000 in forfeited Russian funds to Estonia for the benefit of Ukraine.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the UK government has frozen over £161 million in assets linked to figures within the Syrian regime. Yet, to date, only a fraction of these funds have been confiscated by the UK government.

The debate over a potential Syrian Victims’ Fund has focused primarily on legal avenues, but determining the form of individual or collective reparations is just as important. What could an international fund deliver for the people most affected by violence?