War-torn Syria 'faces losing its Christian community' Syriac Catholic patriarch calls on Western countries to lift all economic sanctions because they only harm the innocent Updated: May 25, 2021 04:45 AM GMT Trending The Bajet Kandala camp for displaced Yazidis near Dohuk, 430 kilometers northwest of the Iraqi capital, by the border with Syria, on Nov. 18, 2020. (Photo: Florent Vergens/AFP) The Syriac Catholic patriarch said the situation in Syria "continues to be humanly unbearable and devastating" and risks emptying the war-torn country of its Christian community for good. Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan called on Western countries to lift "all economic sanctions against Syria because they only harm the innocent."