The comprehensive ban has exacerbated their tragedies ... Syrian families in Sudan suffer from both

Ismail Gabriel Tissot - Khartoum

In the suburb of Al-Kalakleh Al-Qubba (south of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum), the Syrian refugee Muhammad Abdo Ammar Abu Karamallah and his family of 13 people, his wife, children and grandchildren, who fled from the hell of war in Syria, have settled for safety and stability in Sudan.

Abu Karam Allah, who is moving in a chair due to polio, told Al-Jazeera Net that since he entered Sudan, he had been working as a driver on a small private transport vehicle (Amjad) that he bought by paying in installments.

Abu Karam Allah, as he put it, succeeded in strengthening the self-sufficiency and relying on himself to support his family, based on the principle of "Do not give me a fish, but teach me how to fish."

But with the blanket ban in effect, to contain the Corona pandemic, Abu Karamullah lost "hunting and food together", and the specter of suffering began to appear on his house, which was damaged by losing his daily work.

He narrates the solutions he used in moments of trouble, which are represented in the manufacture of Syrian sweets and the sewing of clothes, but they are not currently possible due to the ban, which limited the value of solidarity through human contact with Syrian families, which Abu Karamallah describes his situation in the worst compared to his family.

The suffering of the Syrian youth
seems to be greater for the suffering of the Syrian youth, especially those who immigrated to Sudan in order to work to pay what was termed "military allowance", which is equivalent to six thousand dollars, which must be paid in full within four years.

The head of the Syrian Syrians in Sudan, Marwan Al-Khayyat Abu Adnan, stresses the difficulty of the situation of Syrian youth in Khartoum, where he said that it has become more complicated with the full ban taking effect.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Adnan expressed his fear of a catastrophic situation awaiting the Syrian youth, who represent 90% of the Syrians in Sudan.

He adds that most of the Syrian youth work in daily crafts and professions, distributing their revenues between housing, eating and drinking, and providing a “military allowance”, in addition to paying the value of the renewal of the passport, which is equal to three hundred dollars every two years.

Marwan Al-Khayyat talks about the tragedy of a number of Syrian youth. He said that since the curfew took effect, they are staying in one house, and depend on the benefits they receive from Syrian families, who pay their lives until the end of the ban period, and carry out their daily work.

Stone stomachs era

"If we squeeze the stone on our stomachs, we adults, how to work with our young children?" A question posed by Bilal Issa Al-Marzouqi, a Syrian immigrant who is involved in discussion of plumbing and cupping. He tells Al-Jazeera Net that he supports five children, and he has not gone out of work since the full curfew took effect.

Al-Marzouqi fears that the situation inside his family will deteriorate with the continued complete closure, especially that he - as he says - came from Syria alone and is not known to him close to the Syrians who migrated before or after him to Sudan.

As he worries about his children, Marzouki seems puzzled at how he will manage the value of his house's rent at the start of next month, which coincides with the blessed month of Ramadan.

Employers status

It appears that the situation of Syrians with private businesses has also been affected by the entry into force of the complete ban, as Syrians own - according to the Syrian Families Support Committee - 290 restaurants in Khartoum, more than fifty furniture and furniture workshops, thirty printing houses and 15 detergent factories, in addition to twenty contracting companies.

The owner of one of the furniture and woodworking workshops - who preferred to conceal his name - says to Al-Jazeera Net that he is annoyed by the complete closure, and describes the situation as difficult and unlikely, but he praises God for the blessing of health and wellness.  

He revealed real suffering due to the expenses related to renting the house, workshop and equipment, in addition to the benefits of some workers, without there being any return or money, and he expected the situation to worsen with the prolongation of the complete ban.

Aid for Syrian families

The Committee to Support Syrian Families in Sudan has worked hard during the past two days to provide tons of foodstuffs to face the repercussions of the complete ban imposed by the Sudanese authorities to contain the Corona pandemic.

A spokesman for the Syrian Families Support Committee in Sudan, Ratib Mustafa, said that the committee succeeded in covering 450 Syrian families out of six hundred families with baskets of foodstuffs, most of which were donated by Syrian merchants in Sudan.

Mustafa said to Al Jazeera Net that efforts are continuing to fulfill the remaining families (150 families) that were confined during the last period, and the Committee to support families confirmed their presence in Sudan.

On the composition of the food basket, Ratib Mustafa said that it is more than seventy kilograms, and it consists of 38 varieties, according to the components of the Syrian embassy, ​​and it is sufficient for a family of four people for a full month.

While acknowledging the importance of adhering to the precautionary measures and measures announced by the Sudanese authorities in favor of the health of Syrian families, Ratib Mustafa fears that the Syrians will face a humanitarian catastrophe because of stopping work, "hunger is ruthless," as he put it.