News

An Update from Inside Damascus

20 October 2020

 

HART has recently received an update from inside Syria from British front-line correspondent and film-maker, Tom Duggan. Tom is married to a Syrian woman and has lived in Syria since 2012.

He currently lives in Damascus and gave this account of life under the blanket economic sanctions being imposed on Syria.

 

His account is as follows:

“The situation in Syria is worsening daily.

Due to sanctions, all you see is sad expressions on people’s faces on a daily basis.

No petrol, no propane gas which people use to cook on, the black market is flourishing.

Prices are getting higher daily, long queues, long wait for everything.

If you ask 100 people, would you leave Syria? 95 would say yes.

Long lines at a Government bakery where people can buy cheaper bread.

 

Trump and the West are creating a humanitarian disaster.

If you think the mass migration of citizens leaving Syria was bad during the war in Syria, then be prepared for a bigger mass migration in the coming future.

NGOs are cutting back on staff, one office reduced its field staff by half due to the financial budgets, the donors they relied on are cutting budgets. Almost every NGO is facing difficulties.

Strange thing is, it’s only field staff that are getting the chop, middle management and upper management are safe. Some staff are being asked to work at reduced pay. One man I spoke to in an NGO had his wages halved.

The government bakery is busy all day, the staple diet in Syria is bread for most people, that and vegetables. Meat is just too expensive. Prior to the war, eggs were cheap, now the cost is so high one dozen eggs is equal to the cost of 60 eggs prior to the war. Taxis are increasing prices due to demand on petrol. Restaurants and takeaways are reducing the size of meals.

For the people in the EU and UK, be prepared for more immigrants due to sanctions, a lot more.”

 

Click here to read why HART believe blanket economic sanctions on Syria must end.

 

Click here to find out more about HART’s work in Syria.

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