The Syrian Network for Human Rights said that the PYD militia has been violating the economic sanctions imposed on the Assad regime by supplying it with oil and gas for the past few years.
In a new report issued on Thursday, the Network said that aiding the Assad regime and frequently supplying it with oil and gas is “a flagrant violation of US, European and Canadian sanctions against the regime.”
According to the report, the provinces of Raqqa, Hasaka and Deir Ezzour contain nearly 20 oil fields, 11 of which are under the control of the PYD militia. It indicated that these 11 fields have a productive capacity far larger than that of the fields under the control of Assad Regime, which means that the PYD militia controls around 80 percent of Syria’s oil and gas production.
The monitoring group stressed that the PYD militia have breached economic sanctions imposed on the Assad regime by civilized democratic countries around the world that constitute a near international consensus against a regime that has committed crimes against humanity, and is primarily supported by states like Iran and Russia that do not respect international law and which are involved in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and in defending and justifying the regime’s crimes.
The report went on to say that the PYD militia is currently selling a barrel of crude oil to the Assad regime for around $30 US dollars, making a monthly revenue of an estimated $12.6 million and an annual revenue estimated at 378 million US dollars. This sum does not include the gas revenues.
The report further revealed that the PYD begun smuggling oil to the Assad regime at the end of 2017 when it tightened its control over the oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor province following battles against ISIS.
It also said that the supply of oil to the Assad regime from the al Rmeilan and al Suwaydiya oil fields in Hasaka province has not stopped since the PYD militia took control of the two fields in mid-2012. These fields are subject to agreements between the two parties, with the workers at both fields still receiving salaries from the Assad regime.
The Network called on the US government and the governments of the countries involved in supporting the international anti-ISIS coalition to launch an immediate investigation into those involved in supplying oil to the Assad regime, where the resulting financial revenues have gone and how much they are worth.
Moreover, the Network called for fully and immediately stopping support for the PYD if it is proven that they are transferring funds from Syria’s oil and gas revenues to the terrorist PKK.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the SDF militia is playing an important role in supplying the Assad regime with crude oil and violating US sanctions. It is reported that the owner of the Qatirji Group, an entity which has been under the US and EU sanctions since September 2018, was the middle man between the PYD militia and the Assad. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
