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“People can’t even afford to buy bulgur”: Discontent is on the rise as Syria’s economic crisis worsens http://bit.ly/2T75GLg It's out! My new in-depth research with @putintintin1 based on interviews across regime-held Syria
Heartbreaking piece on the growing phenomenon of prostitution in Damascus, where the most vulnerable in society are forced to sell the only thing they have left - their bodies - to survive http://swnsyria.org/?p=12299&fbclid=IwAR3i_Oc4lXVO2x91RgUAgWh8QN9f7lIvx4dLr6N6CJgk-rgSUi1kfw6NPLo
Syrians stand in line in Safita, Tartous today, to be able to purchase subsidized sugar.
Subsidized sugar (sold at limited and insufficient quantities) costs SYP 350 ($0.35) while sugar on the free market costs about SYP 600. People stand in line for hours to save $0.25
Subsidized sugar (sold at limited and insufficient quantities) costs SYP 350 ($0.35) while sugar on the free market costs about SYP 600. People stand in line for hours to save $0.25
Prices of rubbing alcohol skyrocketing in Syria due to COVID. This small bottle was purchased for 1,100 lira ($1) in Lattakia yesterday amid shortages. The alcohol is manufactured domestically by a company that largely monopolizes the market. It raised prices, as did pharmacists.
Using the pretext of preventing the spread of #COVID19, the company running Syria's Smart Card system for distribution of subsidized food & fuel, announced closing its centers until end of March. This will prevent issuing new cards, ensuring the # of beneficiaries does not grow
This is a clear pretext, since the longest lines are outside institutions that won't shut down: state bakeries selling subsidized bread (now experiencing nation-wide shortages due to regime's failure to purchase flour) & distribution centers for subsidized food using the Card.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior will halt issuing new IDs & family papers, both needed to access government services & benefits, including subsidized food & fuel https://aliqtisadi.com/1717550-%D8%A5%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B6%D8%AF-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7/?utm_content=buffer1455b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=sy.t
https://aliqtisadi.com/1717550-%D8%A5%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B6%D8%AF-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%A7/?utm_content=buffer1455b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=sy.t
Syrians crowd outside offices selling subsidized fuel and food in 2 different locations in Lattakia today. Those gathering are too poor to afford masks, whose prices skyrocketed in recent days. Syria's poor spend much of their time standing in such lines #COVID19
Silwan al-Jundi, Secretary of the Baath Party Branch in Nawa, Daraa, looks mighty pleased handing out 1kg of rice & 1kg of sugar sold at subsidized prices to Syrian families through the Smart Card. Regime-held areas are witnessing an unprecedented hike in food prices & shortages
Some indicators from Syria today:
* Syrian lira hits all-time low against the $ (1340 lira = $1)
* Prices of vegetables, grain, fruit hitting all-time highs.
* Severe bread shortages across the country.
* Hours of electricity reduced as people remain indoors due to COVID.
* Syrian lira hits all-time low against the $ (1340 lira = $1)
* Prices of vegetables, grain, fruit hitting all-time highs.
* Severe bread shortages across the country.
* Hours of electricity reduced as people remain indoors due to COVID.
Syrians wait in line yesterday for distribution of subsidized sugar and oil in Mezzeh, a middle-class neighborhood in Damascus, through the Smart Card system. Syrians can't socially distance as they wait in lines for hours to buy food, receive salaries
Photo by @lensdimashqi
Photo by @lensdimashqi
Syrian soldiers steal onions from a field in Afes, near Saraqib, Idlib.
The price of onions in Syria & all other basic goods skyrocketed in recent days due to price-gougers exploiting COVID panic. Price of onions in Tartous yday was ~1,300 lira per kilo ($1)
The price of onions in Syria & all other basic goods skyrocketed in recent days due to price-gougers exploiting COVID panic. Price of onions in Tartous yday was ~1,300 lira per kilo ($1)
Crowds gather in Jaramana today, on the outskirts of Damascus, to receive humanitarian aid from the Red Crescent.
Prices of all foodstuffs in Syria continue to rise due to shortages of subsidized food, widespread corruption among sellers of subsidized goods, panic buying due to COVID & profiteering. This is while income is cut for many reliant on shuttered businesses due to COVID lockdown.
When the Syrian lira significantly depreciated in late 2019, profiteers hiked the prices of locally hatched eggs. Syrians would joke that the chickens are earning in $. Now with further increases, the joke is that the chickens found out about COVID-19 & stopped laying eggs.
Video by a former Syrian soldier, an Alawi from Lattakia, expressing anger about the sacrifices regime supporters made & got nothing in return. "The only thing this country gave me is the flag in which my brother was wrapped" (died fighting) https://www.facebook.com/abo.alleth.16/posts/2660186700777300
"Why should I bring a child into this world? To grow up in the dark [no electricity], to have quotas of bread, of diesel, of benzine?... No one cares about us... When you needed us, we did not argue with you, we went to [sacrifice] our blood & souls"
h/t @putintintin1
h/t @putintintin1
