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In a report by Syrian researcher and journalist Lina Sinjab, published by the Royal British Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), Sinjab says that when British researcher and journalist Alan George wrote his book titled “Syria: No Bread, No Freedom” Following the death of President Hafez al-Assad in 2003, I did not know at the time that this title would fully summarize the situation in Syria in 2021.
Ten years after the beginning of the peaceful uprising that demanded freedom and social justice, the situation in the country is worse than ever, while the world does not pay attention to it. The researcher adds that Syrians are struggling today to get their rations of bread. So a person had to wait in line an average of eight hours to get their daily bread ration and about 48 hours to fill the car with gasoline.
“When I visited government-controlled Damascus in late 2020, the phrase I heard repeatedly was: This is the worst year we have faced since the start of the uprising,” he says.
“Humiliation” to get food
The declining middle class complains that “during the bombing, we did not feel the humiliation of getting food.” According to the World Health Organization, the war has left almost 90 percent of the population below the poverty line.
Since 2011, the value of the Syrian pound has plummeted dramatically, with a dollar equivalent to up to four thousand pounds on the black market today, compared to 50 lira in 2011, meaning that the average salary of a Syrian government employee it is enough to buy only one kilogram of meat. Most Syrians worry about buying only what is necessary, as even the basics have become out of reach for many.
Of course, all of this is happening in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is true that the pandemic affected economies around the world, but in Syria it changed the situation from bad to catastrophic.
Everything got worse
Sinjab says that everything Syrians rebelled against in 2011 has gotten much worse, as the economy is in a state of collapse, and “the one-party government has morphed into a mafia-style government with many different factions. .. In the past, people used to say that every Syrian has a security officer who protects him. ” But now every Syrian also has a person who steals their bread, dignity and life ”.
He explains that “even those loyal to the regime who dare to complain about the current situation are punished and imprisoned,” noting that in recent weeks at least 150 loyalists have been arrested.
The Syrian regime considers itself “victorious” in the war and some outside observers agree with it. It’s hard to imagine in Sanhab’s view, who describes President Bashar al-Assad’s “victory” as “nothing more than the fact that the regime rules over the rubble of Syria.”
Sinjab refers to the Syrian government saying that it wants to restore sovereignty over the country, but the fact is that Syria is a divided country, in which influence is shared between the regime and the United States, Russia, Iran and Turkey. as well as Kurdish and Islamic groups. Each of these parts controls a part of the country and therefore controls the fate of Syrians who have no voice either now or in the future.
Sinjab added: “The financially distressed regime is now trying to extract what it can get from its citizens, including those who have fled the country. Every Syrian must pay $ 100 in cash upon entering the country, and anyone who has not served. in the military or does not want to. “You have to pay severance pay of up to $ 7,000 to be exempt from service.”
To read the full article on DW, click here
