(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian regime has launched a campaign to acquire what remains of Syrians’ money. The People's Assembly agreed to raise the fees for issuing an expedited passport to the astronomical sum of 800 US Dollars and a regular passport for $400.
The regime media outlets justified the People’s Assembly’s amendment by saying the changes will facilitate Syrians’ affairs and enable them to avoid hiring brokers and intermediaries. The increase in fees is supposed to ensure the proper functioning and speed in processing their applications. The regime justified it as part of its desire to remove the obstacles citizens face when issuing their passports.
In the process of making these justifications, the regime revealed its real aim in increasing the fees for issuing passports namely to "search for sources that provide additional revenues to the state treasury." These additional funds acquired by the state treasury will be redirected to fund the regime military operations, destruction and killing. The regime has found a way for the Syrian people to pay for the very bullets, explosive barrels, rockets and missiles which kill them!
The regime also revealed several other issues in the framing of the news. The regime posed the issue as if Syrian nationals present outside of Syria are there by their own choosing. According to recent statistics, there are 5 million Syrians residing in countries neighboring Syria only. The increase in the fees reflects the regime’s detachment from reality as most of those living outside of Syria are not earning the cost of an expedited passport let alone the $400 needed to issue a regular passport.
The increase in the passport fees are exorbitant, but when compared with the sums paid by the citizens of other states, the sum becomes glaring. Syrian citizens will be expected to pay 11 times the amount paid by German citizens. The fees for issuing the top strongest passports in the world vary between 50- 200 US Dollars depending on the country. Unlike the citizens of many of these countries, Syrian citizens are issued passports valid for six years only for all persons exempt from mandatory military service. Men who have not completed their mandatory military service are issued passports only valid for two years. In this manner, the regime ensures that many Syrian citizens are forced to renew their passports on a relatively regular basis.
Other than the increase in the consular fees, many Syrian still face problems renewing their passports. Recently a human rights activist tried to renew his passport in a regime consulate, but the staff repeatedly refused to process his paperwork. The activist later learnt that he is blacklisted and no Syrian consulate in the world will renew his passport. The regime uses passports not only as a means to tax Syrians abroad but also as a weapon against citizens who oppose it.
Many Syrians are left stuck between a rock and a hard place. They are forced to gather the sums to have their passports issued or renewed from the regime consulates as the opposition has not provided a valid and internationally recognized alternative. In the process, the Syrian people are paying sums that will be used to equip the regime’s war machines and its fighting capabilities.
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