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Syria's Economic Pains Far From Over 01/24 06:13
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Samir al-Baghdad grabbed his pickax and walked up a
wobbly set of stairs made of cinderblocks and rubble.
He is rebuilding his destroyed family house in the Qaboun neighborhood near
Damascus, Syria 's capital.
The traditional building, which once housed his family, parents and some
relatives, had a courtyard decorated with plants and tiled floors where guests
were received. But the house, like scores of others nearby, has been reduced to
heaps of rubble during years of civil war.
Al-Baghdadi can't afford to hire workers or rent a bulldozer to clear the
debris and fix the house. He makes just about enough money as a mechanic to
feed his family. But he's desperate to rebuild it because he is struggling to
pay skyrocketing rent for an apartment.
"Economic opportunities are basically nonexistent," al-Baghdadi said,
sitting on a pile of rubble and debris where the house's entrance used to be.
"So we're going to slowly rebuild with our own hands."
Although Syrian President Bashar Assad was toppled last month in a lightning
insurgency, the country's dire economic conditions that protesters decried have
not changed.
The economy has been battered by corruption and 13 years of civil war.
Coupled with international sanctions and mismanagement, inflation skyrocketed,
pulling some 90% of the country into poverty. Over half the population -- some
12 million people -- don't know where their next meal will come from, according
to the U.N. World Food Program.
With no sign of a full-scale withdrawal of international sanctions and
continuing caution among potential overseas investors, the honeymoon period for
the country's new rulers could be short-lived.
Qaboun, just a stone's throw away from the city center, and other eastern
Damascus neighborhoods became rebel strongholds in 2012, when the country's
mass protests against Assad spiraled into all-out war.
It suffered government airstrikes and artillery fire, and at one point
Islamic State group extremists. In 2017, government forces reclaimed the
neighborhood, but when al-Baghdadi tried to return in 2020, security forces
kicked him out and forced him to sign a pledge to never return, saying it was a
security zone that was off limits.
After Assad's fall, al-Baghdadi was finally able to return. Like many, he
was euphoric and hoped it would pave the way for better times despite the many
challenges that lay ahead, including rampant power cuts and fuel shortages.
For years, Syrian families have relied on humanitarian aid and remittances
from family members living abroad to survive. On top of the gargantuan costs of
rebuilding the country's destroyed electricity, water and road infrastructure,
money is needed to restore its battered agriculture and industrial sectors to
make its hobbled economy productive again.
The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $250
billion to rebuild Syria. Some experts now say that number could reach at least
$400 billion.
Wealthy Gulf countries have pledged to build economic partnerships with
Syria's new interim rulers, while Washington has eased some restrictions
without fully lifting its sanctions. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a
six-month license authorizing some transactions with Syria's interim
government. While it includes some energy sales, Syrians say it isn't enough.
Sinan Hatahet, an economic researcher at the Washington-based Atlantic
Council think tank, said the U.S. actions were the "bare minimum" needed to
show good faith to Damascus and aren't enough to help Syria jumpstart its
economy.
"It doesn't help the private sector to engage," Hatahet said. "The
restrictions on trade, the restrictions on reconstruction, on rebuilding the
infrastructure are still there."
While countries are hesitant to make more impactful decisions as they hope
for a peaceful political transition, many Syrians say the economy can't wait.
"Without jobs, without huge flows of money and investments ... these
families have no way of making ends meet," Hatahet said.
The executive director of the World Food Program echoed similar sentiments,
warning Syria's neighbors that its food and economic crisis is also a crisis of
security.
"Hunger does not breed good will," Cindy McCain said in an interview during
her first visit to Damascus.
In the Syrian capital's bustling old marketplace, crowds of people pack the
narrow passageways as the country's new de facto flag is draped over the
crowded stalls. Merchants say the atmosphere is pleasant and celebratory, but
nobody is buying anything.
People stop to smell the aromatic and colorful spices or pose for photos
next to masked fighters from the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group guarding the
market's entrances.
"We're very happy with our liberation, thank God, but there are few jobs,"
said Walid Naoura, who works with his father at a clothing shop. "Yes, we've
been relieved of thuggery and oppression, but all these people here have come
to celebrate but not to buy anything because things are expensive."
Nearby, Abou Samir, a carpenter, saws a piece of wood as he assembles a
chest of drawers. There is no electricity to power his machinery, so he's doing
it by hand.
"I'm working at a loss ... and you can't make larger workshops work because
there is no electricity," he said.
His sons live abroad and send money to help him get by, but he refuses to
stop his carpentry work which has been his livelihood for 50 years.
In Qaboun, al-Baghdadi sips tea on a makeshift porch overlooking his
neighborhood, which has turned into empty plots and a gathering point for local
buses and minivans. It was a successful day because he managed to connect an
electric cable to power a single light bulb -- but part of his roof collapsed.
He still hasn't been able to secure running water but hopes that he and his
family can move into the house with its many memories before summer, even if it
is far from completion because of his financial situation.
"I prefer that to living in a palace elsewhere," al-Baghdadi said.
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