New crossings in northern Syria... facilitating movement or increasing taxes?

A crossing belonging to the Salvation Government in northern Syria (Al Jazeera)

Northern Syria -

The "Syrian Interim Government", affiliated with the opposition National Coalition, has begun work on establishing two crossings parallel to the "Ghazawiyah" and "Deir Ballut" crossings between the areas controlled by the "Syrian National Army" in the Aleppo countryside, and the "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" in northern Idlib. Western Syria.

The opposition government said that the mechanism for establishing the two crossings and their work plans are under preparation under the supervision of its Ministry of Defense.

She explained that merchants and industrialists in the Aleppo countryside called for controlling the import and export mechanism and protecting local products from “speculation.” They also complained about the high fees imposed by the Ghazawiyah crossing on goods exported from the Aleppo countryside to Idlib, while the fees imposed on imported goods are “almost negligible.” , according to what the government stated.

Salvation Government crossings impose taxes on goods (Al Jazeera)

The purposes of the crossing

The Minister of Economy in the Syrian Interim Opposition Government, Abdul Hakim al-Masry, confirmed that the goal of the internal crossings was decided after a meeting with merchants and industrialists in the Aleppo countryside in light of complaints about the very high taxes imposed on them from the crossings affiliated with the Salvation Government, which is supported by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham on the other side.

Al-Masry added, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the merchant is sometimes forced to move the factory from the Aleppo countryside, which is subject to the Interim Government, to Idlib, which is subject to the Salvation Government, which reflects negatively on him and the workforce, and the merchant is unable to compete.

He pointed out that the crossing belonging to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham imposes very high taxes, and the goal could be to direct people to invest there, as he put it.

Al-Masry explained that they prevented the entry of specific materials and items, such as potatoes, into the areas under the Authority’s control from all internal ports or crossings with Turkey, in order to help farmers and sell their crops.

A crossing belonging to the Syrian Interim Government (Al Jazeera)

He said, "Any unnecessary materials must be prevented from entering through any port. Traders have been trying for 3 years to have there be no fees between the liberated areas in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside, but they did not reach any results, so it has become necessary for them to invest here, and we must protect them and secure a market to sell their goods." Without speculation.”

He pointed out that anyone who opens a factory must protect it so that the market is not flooded with goods, as the consumer will not be affected, and the goal is to control the area and inspect materials so that expired materials do not enter as well.

Some industrialists recently moved their factories from the Aleppo countryside to Idlib to avoid high fees, which harmed the industrial reality in the areas controlled by the "Interim Government."

The government indicated that the Federation of Chambers of Commerce in the Aleppo countryside demanded the establishment of internal demarcation crossings corresponding to the Ghazawiyah and Deir Ballut crossings to protect producers and consumers.

Transfer activity

Abdullah Al-Malik, a trader working in the field of plastic materials, told Al Jazeera Net that he moved his factory from the northern Aleppo countryside to the Idlib countryside to avoid the fees imposed by the Salvation Government’s Ghazawiya crossing on goods.

He added, "After moving the factory, I saved thousands of dollars a month. We have a daily shipment of goods to Idlib and we pay hundreds of dollars to the crossing, and at the same time there are no fees from the interim government, so I opened the factory here and started saving the crossing fees."

But Abdullah Al-Malik fears that the interim government will open new outlets, considering that it will increase pressure on merchants and professionals, and will also increase additional taxes on them, which will lead to the flight of capital and investors from most regions of northern Syria.

The areas under the control of the Syrian Interim Government and the Salvation Government are separated by two crossings: the Al-Ghazawiyah crossing near the Darat Azza area in the Aleppo countryside, and the Deir Ballut crossing near the town of Atma on the Turkish-Syrian border.

The Salvation Government imposes taxes on any goods coming to Idlib from areas under the control of the Interim Government, according to their type and weight. It also carries out careful inspection campaigns on some materials, and it also imports fuel and fuel from those areas.

Civilians complain about taxes at border crossings between the two parties (Al Jazeera)

Greater suffering

Abdullah Al-Eido - a freight car driver who travels between the two government crossings daily - complains about the construction of new crossings, considering that they will increase the suffering of civilians and will contribute to the imposition of taxes by the other party in response to the Salvation Government’s fees, and in the end the loser is the citizen.

He told Al Jazeera Net that he sometimes waits for long hours at the crossing due to traffic congestion, because every car carrying goods waits a long time to find out the type of goods and pay the fees for them at the crossing to the officers at the Ghazawiyah crossing.

He added, "If there are new outlets belonging to the interim government, this means a new increase in waiting, as well as new financial taxes and the demarcation of the borders between the so-called states of Idlib and Aleppo, which belong to the opposition, but with different and conflicting governments."

The interim government's move comes one month after holding civil and economic activities for the first investment conference in northern Syria entitled "Investment... Stability... Development and Prosperity" in the city of Al-Rai, north of Aleppo.

The conference was attended by the head of the Syrian interim opposition government, Abdul Rahman Mustafa, the CEO of the Syrian Forum, Ghassan Hitto, the executive director of the “Omran” Center, Ammar Qahf, and Maysaa Qabbani, vice president of the American-Syrian “Global Justice” organization, in addition to the Turkish governor of Kilis and others.

Suleiman Al-Ali, a teacher, confirms that such a decision will greatly affect the movement of civilians. The presence of a new border crossing by the interim government means that each party will not recognize the other party’s documents, so the civilian needs documents from both sides.

He added, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that every citizen of northern Syria moving between Idlib and Aleppo now needs two driving certificates, two identity cards, and multiple car plates, which means more bureaucracy and fragmentation in the opposition institutions that are supposed to be an alternative model for the Syrian regime.

Source: Al Jazeera