Syria: hundreds of people demonstrate in Sueïda against the economic crisis
Aerial view of Soueida in southern Syria in 2012 (illustration image).
CC.2.0/Shadi Alashkar
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Hundreds of people gathered this Friday, February 11 in a major city in southern Syria to demand democracy and better living conditions, during a rare demonstration in the territories under the control of the regime, according to an NGO.
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Protesters gathered for the fifth day in a row in Soueïda, after authorities mistakenly withdrew 600,000 families from the subsidy program, reports the Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). Kingdom and has an extensive network of sources in Syria.
"
We want a rule of law, just and democratic
," exclaimed a young man in traditional Druze attire, in a video taken by Suwayda 24, a local media.
The province of Soueïda is the stronghold of the Druze community, a branch of Shiite Islam, which represented nearly 3% of the population before the war and has tried to stay away from the Syrian conflict.
"
We can't live, get our rights, we don't have gas or petrol
," an old man told the crowd in a video, lamenting the rise in prices: "
We want to live in a civil state that guarantee our dignity and our rights.
»
Nearly 90% of the population below the poverty line
In early February, many Syrians were withdrawn from the food and fuel subsidy program, angering locals, at a time when around 90% of the population lives below the UN poverty line .
"
The majority of people are protesting for the first time in their lives because of the poor living conditions and the lifting of subsidies
," Nour Radwan of Suwayda 24 told AFP.
What we are witnessing in Soueida is more popular emotion in relation to living conditions than a revolutionary movement like there was in 2011. The economic situation in Syria is truly catastrophic.
You don't have electricity, you don't have fuel for heating, bread is rationed, wages are miserable when you are lucky enough to have a salary... People have nothing left to loose.
Fabrice Balanche, Syria specialist and lecturer at Lyon 2 University
Nicholas Feldman
Demonstrations of the same kind, but on a smaller scale, took place in 2020 in Soueïda – name of the province and the city.
Syria, at war since 2011, is facing a serious economic crisis, marked by a depreciation of the pound, an explosion in inflation and aggravated by Western sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic.
(
With
AFP)
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