Additional expenses burdening Syrian citizens

By Jasem Al Hamwe; Translation by Maryam Saleh

(HAMA)- Syria is considered to be one of the wealthiest Middle Eastern countries in terms of the various resources it offers. Its agricultural, industrial, tourism, and petroleum industries are factors that would put any country at the forefront of civilization and allow its people to live comfortably.

But despite Syria’s many resources, its residents never once benefited from them. Ever since the Assad regime came to power decades ago, it has been the sole profiteer and has dedicated 80 percent of the country’s annual budget to build its army, supposedly preparing to fight Israel, and purchase different types of weaponry. In order to ensure that the people would not ask for their rightful share of the country’s wealth, the Syrian government has intentionally repressed its people and deprived them of their basic rights, hoping to distract the people by forcing them to continually struggle to make a living and sustain their families. When a Syrian citizen decides to speak up and ask about the country’s natural resources, he is usually detained or forcibly disappeared. A few years ago, a member of Parliament from the city of al-Sheiha in Hama made an inquiry as to the country’s resources during a Parliamentary hearing; he was later isolated and questioned about this.

And the Syrian people’s struggles have multiplied during the painful conflict that has consumed the country for three years. Not only do people have to worry about a lack of resources and a decreased income, they must also carry the burden of additional expenses that residents are expected to pay in light of a weakened service sector, a lack of goods, a hazy economic landscape, and trade routes that have become dangerous as a result of shelling and clashes. As a result of these numerous factors, a population that was comprised of mostly middle-class working citizens, able to meet their needs, is being overwhelmed by poverty.

Moutaz Barhoum, from Hama city, has one child and he works at a shop to earn money for his small family. He asserted that living conditions have become quite difficult; life is expensive and taking care of one’s needs is no longer easy. He wonders what life is like for those with large families or for internally displaced persons who lost everything.

“Additional financial burdens have become exhaustive,” Barhoum said. “For example, due to the frequency of power outages, residents must rely on electric generators, batteries, or alternative sources of light. Water pumps are a must due to outages, and we also have to buy firewood and alternative sources of heating because of the lack of fuel, which has become very expensive anyway.”

Though financial burdens have proven difficult on people like Barhoum, he explained other obstacles Syrians are faced with: “Kidnappings and arbitrary arrests have really put a strain on the people of Hama,” he said. “Security forces and shabiha arrest residents to extort their families to pay large sums of money, up to one million Syrian Lires (Pounds) for their safe return, but end up killing the person or detaining him based on fabricated charges anyway.”

Abu Ahmed, who lives in the town of Kafarzeita in north of Hama, agrees with Barhoum. The 60-year-old man has experienced firsthand many hardships, exacerbated by the regime’s non-stop shelling of his hometown and his resulting displacement. According to Abu Ahmed, it is almost impossible to get fuel in the suburbs of Hama because it is simply unavailable. The easiest way to buy fuel is on the black market, though smugglers charge a lot of money for the service. In the alternative, people have the choice of purchasing firewood, which has recently become no less costly than purchasing fuel.

As for the people of eastern Hama, their struggles mostly revolve around water. Wael, a young man from the city of Salamieh, said that conditions have become almost intolerable. Water has been hard to come by in Salamieh for a long time, but the problem has worsened; the people of the city are forced to either spend a lot of money buying water from mobile water tanks or on gallons of water, which is costly as well.

“Sometimes, the water we buy from the mobile water tanks is polluted, causing digestive issues,” Wael said. “As a result, people have to go to the doctor and pay for treatment. Our expenditures additional to the cost of living keep growing.”

And thus, another gate of Hell has opened up in the lives of the Syrian people amid the current crisis. The rising cost of living is just one part of the struggle people deal with in the face of a regime who is collectively punishing Syrians for demanding their rights. The Syrian people continue to be deprived of their most basic rights simply because they have been cursed with a government that sees Syria as nothing more than a farm whose benefits only the regime is entitled to reap.

Follow the writer on Twitter at @jasemalhamwe