Displaying items by tag: Syrian Crisis

Like its predecessors, the state's general budget for 2022 reflected the country's deteriorating situation on all fronts. The factors of war and economic sanctions, and, before this and that, the government policies followed for decades, left an economy afflicted with a heart attack and an infrastructure paralyzed in most of its sectors, which was reflected in a significant decline and deterioration in all indicators of Syrian economic performance.

On Thursday, August 25, the “Rai Al-Youm” (Today’s Opinion) news website published an article titled “What are the secrets and behind-the-scenes of the escalation again US forces in Syria?” (Arabic) by the well-respected Palestinian journalist and author, Kamal Khalaf. We will discuss the subject of the article due to its importance.

Although the discussion of the two terms of centralization and decentralization in the new Syria has taken a back seat a little, and is no longer as hot of a topic as it was years ago (and perhaps this is better so discussions move in more objective and sustainable directions), the topic in its essence is still hot and important. One could even say that the time for serious preparations to discuss it and reach understandings about it is dwindling, given the amount and speed of the ongoing changes.

The Century Foundation, an American think tank based in New York, published on the fourth of this month a report titled “Syrian Prisoner Amnesty Could be a Breakthrough if Damascus is Ready to do More”.

Scholars of World War II history agree that among the most important reasons for the collapse of Nazism at the time, was its opening two major fronts together, the first in 1939 and the second in 1941.

Hardly anyone argues today that official wages in Syria are no longer able to cover some of the actual costs of living. We have explained on several occasions on the pages of this newspaper that the State apparatus in the country has long stopped paying actual wages to its employees, whose number in 2020 was estimated by the Central Bureau of Statistics at 1,595,475 workers, out of 5,726,290 workers in general.

Talking about the global food crisis is no longer just speculations and warnings done by some, as the countries of the world, the countries of the global south in particular, have made real steps in this direction. At the Syrian level, where we are already suffering from food insecurity, the country is effectively left to the unknown, to be a prey between the jaws of the global food crisis, which is still not clear where it is headed yet. In addition, internal plunderers are ready to seize any crisis that increases the accumulation of wealth above their already accumulated wealth.   

Last Thursday, April 21, Legislative Decree No. 4 of 2022 was issued, which provides for the disbursement of what is called a «grant», with a lump sum of 75 thousand Syrian pounds for civilian and military workers, and pensioners, provided that this «grant» is disbursed only once.

Eleven years after the crisis erupted in the country, its disastrous impacts have affected the entire society, and of course, children were the most vulnerable and fragile segment. The crisis and its repercussions have left millions of children in need, who are obliged to coercively engage in labor market to fill part of the huge gap between wages and the minimum of food and living costs. Meanwhile, the vast majority of these children live in unsuitable environments and consequences that threaten them with negative social impacts that may expand to a minimum of two generations.

Eleven years after the outbreak of the crisis in the country, humanitarian needs are still aggravating in Syria, given the long-term consequences of the wide spread destruction of infrastructure across the country. In addition to the acceleration of the economic downturn that began before the crisis erupted, and grew in frequency during it, causing Syria to become the country with the most internally displaced people in the world.