A call for religious liberty safeguards has been issued by a persecution watchdog, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s commitment to relax sanctions on Syria.

Joel Veldkamp, the head of international communications at Christian Solidarity International (CSI), has voiced his organization’s support for President Trump’s pledge. Veldkamp also highlighted the extensive consequences of the long-standing sanctions on the Syrian population.

“The impact of the sanctions has been really devastating,” he said. “The U.S. and its allies imposed these sanctions on Syria in 2011 just as the civil war between the dictatorship of [former Syrian leader] Bashar al-Assad and the rebel coalition led by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists was beginning.”

Veldkamp stated the sanctions were intended to penalize the Syrian government for actions against its people and push them toward a diplomatic resolution.He added, “But the effect was really to devastate the country.”

Veldkamp, who lived in Syria for a year before the sanctions, recalled it being a “middle-income” nation with a middle class. He laments the current, more desperate situation.

“Today, over 90% of Syrians live in poverty,” Veldkamp said. “Over half a million Syrian kids are shorter than they should be as malnutrition has gotten so bad.”

Veldkamp attributes much of this hardship to the sanctions, which he says were speculated to force regime change.He notes this occurred in December, when al-Assad was ousted and replaced by a terror-led regime.

“The civil war in Syria was really a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia,” Veldkamp said. “And, for a long time, it seemed like Russia had won because they supported the Syrian government and the Syrian government really seemed to have won the day.”

He added, “Of course, the syrian government collapsed in December. And, as President Trump said in riyadh … when he made this announcement, the sanctions seemed to have served their function.”

President Trump also mentioned normalizing relations with Syria in his announcement.

“Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing in many years,” the president said. “That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.”

Veldkamp stated that CSI has opposed broad sanctions on Syria that harm all citizens and has advocated for their removal. The watchdog believes this is crucial for the survival of Christians “as a religious group” in Syria.

Fears of religious Persecution

“The impact of the sanctions has been really devastating…the effect was really to devastate the country.”

Despite viewing the sanctions pledge as a positive step, Veldkamp issued a warning.

“The problem is this regime change that the sanctions seem to have been a part of bringing about replaced brutal dictatorship in Syria with an Al-Qaeda linked dictatorship,” he said.”The current ruler of Syria, the president of syria, is the founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria. He used to be called Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Now, he goes by the name Ahmed al-Sharaa – and the U.S. seems to think that they can work with him.”

This situation has raised concerns about religious persecution against Christians and other groups, given the potential for violence and chaos under a militant regime.

Veldkamp noted that other groups have already been targeted.

“in the last few months, we’ve seen huge massacres of religious minorities in Syria,” he said. “We’ve seen thousands of Alawite Muslims killed on the Syrian coast by pro-government forces,we’ve seen the attacks now on a different community called the Druze, and a lot of the Christians are wondering if they’re next.”

Veldkamp believes President Trump’s sanction announcement should include assurances of protection for Christians and other groups.

“Even as these sanctions get taken away, the U.S. needs to be really focusing on this and really thinking what else they can do to make sure that Christianity is not destroyed in Syria,” he said.

Veldkamp described images of President Trump shaking hands with al-Sharaa as “mind-blowing,” considering the Syrian leader’s past. He also expressed concern over Saudi Arabia’s support for the new regime, given its restrictions on religious freedom.

These factors contribute to fears that religious liberty in Syria is at risk.

“Right now, Syria is on the way to becoming like saudi Arabia,” he said. “We’re in danger of losing this diversity. Just the fact that Christians have been in Syria for the past 2,000 years, we might be on the verge of losing that if the trump administration doesn’t pay attention.”

Veldkamp stressed the importance of securing “firm guarantees” for religious freedom in Syria as sanctions are perhaps lifted. Without such commitments, he warned of potential consequences.

“One possibility is that Syria becomes a place like Iran, for example, where women are not allowed to have their hair uncovered in public,” he said. “Where you can’t buy or sell alcohol, where you can’t have any manifestation of Christian religion in public, and where, under Sharia law, for example, Christians can’t testify against Muslims in court, or Christians have to pay more taxes than Muslims.”

veldkamp concluded, “But Christians in Syria today are not going to accept this kind of second-class status where they’re constantly at risk of being attacked if they show their Christian identity. So,if that happens,I think all the Christians of Syria will leave.”

Watch Veldkamp fully explain the issue.