Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The western powers, with the prompting of Saudi Arabia and Israel, wanted regime change and interference has made the situation in Syria 100 times worse than it would have been without external interference. The centre for Syrian studies at the University of St. Andrews has stated that the reduction in living standards and aid dependency as a result of the sanctions is empowering the regime because people are more dependent on the regime. The NGOs that were interviewed in this report complain about the sanctions and say the sanctions undermine their chance to help people. The sanctions between 1991 and 2003 in Iraq caused the deaths of over 500,000 children. We will not know for a few years how many children will die in Syria because of the sanctions. The sanctions are not working.

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