BEIRUT (AP) – The lines extend for miles outside gas stations in Syrian cities, with an average wait of five hours to fill a tank. At bakeries, people in turn push and shove during long, chaotic waiting times to collect the quota of two packs of bread per day per family.
On the streets of the capital Damascus, beggars attack motorists and passers-by, begging for food or money. Medicines, baby milk and diapers are hard to find.
Because Syria marks Monday’s 10th anniversary of the start of its uprising turned civil warPresident Bashar Assad may still be in power, supported by Russia and Iran. But millions of people are being pushed deeper into poverty, and a majority of households can barely scrape together enough to secure their next meal.
As Assad prepares for a fourth seven-year presidential term in the spring, some have wondered if he can survive the sharp economic downturn and anger in areas under his control. Poverty is now worse than ever during the 10-year conflict.
“Life here is a portrait of everyday humiliation and suffering,” said a woman in Damascus. Her husband lost his job at an electronics store last month and now the family is drawing on meager savings that quickly evaporate. The woman said she taught part-time to make ends meet. Like others, she spoke on the condition that her identity remains hidden for fear of arrest.
With two children and an elderly father to take care of, she said life has become unbearably difficult and that she is gripped by fear of the future. Until recently, she was able to smuggle her father’s medicines in from Lebanon, but now Lebanon is experiencing its own meltdown and shortages.
“I go to the souk and really have to think about priorities, only buy the basic necessities for cooking. I’m trying not to look at the other things my kids might like, ”she said.
The decade of war has become unfathomable destruction on Syria. Nearly half a million people have died and more than half of the pre-war population of 23 million has been displacedboth inside and outside the country’s borders, the world’s worst displacement crisis since World War II. Infrastructure is in ruins.
During most of the conflict, Assad was able to protect the Syrians in government territory from excruciating economic pain. Even if only occasionally, the state would ensure that fuel, medicine and other supplies arrived and the currency kept up.
Now that he has gained a decisive upper hand in the war with the help of Russia and Iran, his grip on areas under his control is unchallenged and the insurgency has largely been quelled.
But the economy has disintegrated at a surprising speed. It was hit by a double whammy of new, far-reaching US sanctions imposed last year and the financial collapse in Lebanon, Syria’s main link to the outside world. That turned out to be too much, on top of the tensions of war, government corruption, other Western sanctions that had been in place for years and the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Nations says more than 80% of Syrians now live in poverty and 60% are at risk of starvation. The currency has crashed, now at 4,000 Syrian pounds against the dollar in the black market, compared to 700 a year ago and 47 at the start of the conflict in 2011.
“When you put all these things together, it is no surprise that we are seeing increasing food insecurity and increasing hunger,” said Arif Hussein, chief economist at the UN World Food Program. “Not only in breadth, that is, a lot of people, but also in depth, which means that people today are closer to hunger than ever before.”
Residents of government-run areas who spoke with The Associated Press paint a grim picture. Prices go up several times a day. Families now rely on electronic ‘smart cards’ to obtain subsidized and rationed goods such as fuel, gas cylinders, tea, sugar, rice and bread. To collect them, they wait in long lines, often pushing, pushing and fighting.
At gas stations, some park their car overnight to claim a seat in the queue and return early in the morning to fill their car. Residents carpool or walk where possible to avoid fuel wastage.
REPUBLIC QUEUES
“It’s the ‘Republic of Queues’,” said Ibrahim Hamidi, a Syrian journalist from London who reports on Syrian affairs for the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
Despite growing discontent, Assad’s rule is not under threat because people are too busy with their own survival, he said. “They don’t have time to think about anything political. They don’t have time to think about transition, or the constitution or reforms, because they are busy all the time. “
Food prices have risen by 230% in the past year, and many Syrians say they are looking for essential goods that are no longer available. Many families are without meat and fruit for months. At vegetable markets, people often buy a piece because they can no longer pay. A government employee’s monthly salary is now worth $ 15- $ 20, compared to about $ 170 a year ago.
In the big cities, many plan their day around the electricity schedule, as the power is cut for four hours for every two on, sometimes longer. Unlike Lebanon, where neighborhood generators have been institutionalized, only well-to-do people can afford them in Syria.
In winter, with a shortage of gas canisters, many resorted to using toxic old wood stoves for warmth, with kids rummaging through the trash for something to burn.
The simultaneous crises in Lebanon and Syria have fed each other. Where Lebanese once traveled to Damascus to buy cheaper medicines, textiles and other good quality goods, now Lebanon’s subsidized goods, including fuel and medicines, are being smuggled into Syria, exacerbating Lebanon’s economic crisis.
A Syrian media activist under the pseudonym Omar Hariri said the rations of bread, petrol, cooking gas and diesel only cover 10% of the people’s needs. Waiting in line for hours has become “a way of life,” he said.
“I have a relative who turned up for gasoline in January after two months of the cold passed, and he was forced to buy at a much higher price on the black market,” he said.
WALLS OF FEAR
Syrian economist Samir Seifan said the collapse of the Lebanese banking system, US sanctions and the pandemic are all “factors that exploded at the same time.” Now the regime has run out of sources of income, so they are printing money and fueling inflation, he said.
Frustration is voiced even among Assad’s most loyal supporters. A lawmaker recently wondered why Iran and Russia did not help by sending oil and wheat.
The government has been tough, detaining at least nine people in the past six weeks, including a prominent state television presenter for social media posts deemed critical.
“The regime is trying to rebuild the walls of fear, to remind people that even if you are loyalists, you cannot criticize us,” Hamidi said.
Assad blames the US and calls its sanctions economic terrorism that wants to starve the people. The shifting regional dynamics increase his self-confidence; some Arab Gulf states that supported the Syrian opposition are now openly criticizing the sanctions
“In 10 years of war, the (Syrian) regime has not offered any concessions. There is a general sense that it can only get worse, ”said Hamidi.
“There is no horizon, no hope.”
Beirut Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue reported.
Follow AP’s coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring uprisings at https://apnews.com/hub/arab-spring