'Protests against declining living conditions and the Syrian régime's economic policies spread across southern Syria this week, a rarity in a country where open dissent is often punishable by imprisonment and torture.
A general strike was declared in the Druze-majority province of Suweida, and hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against the régime.
In neighbouring Daraa province, some villages participated in the strikes, with demonstrators raising the Syrian revolutionary flag and chanting, "Bashar … Go! We want to live!"
The protests erupted after the Syrian currency reached an unprecedented low of 15,000 Syrian pounds per US dollar on Tuesday, 15 August, down from 7,000 at the beginning of the year.
The Syrian government also increased fuel prices this week and has steadily rolled back subsidies for critical staples, such as heating and cooking fuel.
In a move to try to blunt the impact of the price increases on Syrian families, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad doubled public salaries on Wednesday.
Economists said the wage increase would likely be wiped out by subsequent inflation as the pound's value continues to fall.
Despite the initial catalyst being economic, activists said the protests tapped into simmering resentment against the régime.
"The demonstrators don't have specific demands yet, although the slogans they chanted yesterday were primarily political. They hold the head of the Syrian régime responsible for the deterioration of living conditions," said Ryan Marouf, an activist and editor of Suwayda 24.
Opposition groups in Daraa also expressed solidarity, with the "Association for Free Men of the Arab Mountain" publishing a statement giving their "full support to the popular movement in Suweida."
"The Association will work from this moment forward to prepare all methods to protect our free people and support the general strike … and prevent any security chaos," the statement read.
Suweida has been afforded some autonomy amid Syria's civil war, as the province largely kept to itself.
Local militias such as the "Sheikhs of Dignity" have also taken security into their own hands, ousting some régime security forces from the province after accusing them of being behind kidnapping and drug trafficking gangs.
On-and-off protests have occurred in the province since the beginning of Syria's economic collapse in 2019, with only occasional violent interference from régime security services.
However, this week's protests began to spread to areas outside the typically restive south, with protesters chanting against the régime in Jaramna, a suburb of the capital city, Damascus, on Friday.
Other Syrians chose a more subtle form of dissent, holding up slips of paper containing protests and demands in front of iconic locations nationwide.
"The Syrian people, regardless of sect, say enough humiliation. The future of our youth is not a game to be played in your hands," one such paper read, held up in front of a Syrian government building.
The protests are part of a new, pan-Syrian movement called the "10th of August Movement," which calls for peaceful demonstrations and strikes to protest "the state's disregard for the future of the people."
Syrian authorities have yet to respond directly to protests, though activists are bracing themselves based on past experiences of security forces cracking down on dissent with force.
"It's likely that there will be a reaction from the authorities at the present time, as this might detonate the already inflamed street anger," Marouf said.
"However, it is difficult to bet on the reaction of the régime, which did not hesitate to break up a demonstration last year in Suweida with live ammunition," he added.'
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'In the summer of 2015, Assad found himself in a vulnerable position. The régime has lost control of most of the country, having suffered a string of defeats from opposition forces and ISIS. In autumn, at the request of Assad, Russia intervened in the war under the pretext of “fighting terrorism” and delivered the first blows.
The Ministry of Defense declared exclusively about "precision" strikes on the positions of ISIS militants. However, on the very first day of the operation, September 30, videos of the consequences of Russian strikes on territories under the control of the opposition appeared on the network . During the operation, aviation destroyed civilian infrastructure, destroying entire cities.
By November, the Syrian government forces, with the active support of Russian aviation, completed the encirclement and began the siege of the economic capital of Syria, Aleppo. At this time, Abdulkafi Alhamdo, originally from a village in the vicinity of the city, was in the city with his wife and 10-month-old daughter:
“In the last days of the siege, Russia has effectively declared all civilians, including me and my children, terrorists. They bombed us continuously. I witnessed the massacres, I saw many people on the street whom I could not help in any way. I just watched the bodies lying on the streets and thought that these were the last days of my life. My daughter was crying all the time, she didn't understand what was going on. I asked my wife to leave with the children for the territory controlled by the régime.But she insisted that we'd rather die together than go to where our killers are.» .
During the month of aerial bombardment, Aleppo suffered significant destruction. At least 446 people died directly from the strikes during this time . By December, opposition forces retained control of only a small part in the east of the city. Then they agreed with the troops of the régime and Russia on the evacuation to the territory that remained under the control of the opposition. On one of the buses on December 18, together with his wife and daughter, Abdulkafi left for Idlib.
Today, 4.5 million people live in northwestern Syria, which remains under the control of various armed opposition groups. “Most of them are displaced people who came with nothing. They are just waiting for a political solution that would allow them to return to their homes - Aleppo, Damascus, Homs ," says a member of the White Helmets, Ammar al-Salmo.
After the defeat of ISIS in most of Syria, the régime focused on the province of Idlib, most of which remained under the control of opposition groups. In 2019, with the support of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah in the northwest, two large-scale military operations took place, during which the Assad régime regained part of the territories.
The intensification of the conflict led to a large-scale flight of the population. “We were constantly forced to move north and north, but what kind of north are we talking about now? We have nowhere else to go. People would rather die under the rubble than give up and return to those who destroyed their homes and killed their loved ones. For me, this is a very difficult decision to live and understand that my children may face such a fate,” says Abdulkafi.
March 2020, Türkiye and Russia signed a ceasefire agreement. Together they agreed to patrol the highway connecting the territories controlled by the opposition and the régime. According to Ammar al-Salmo, residents do not use the route often: “People can return to régime-controlled territory through a checkpoint in the vicinity of Aleppo.But they do not do so for fear of assassinations, arrests and torture by the régime.There are no guarantees for the continuation of normal life in the territories controlled by the régime . ”
On the other hand, the north-west of Syria borders on Turkey, but it is almost impossible to get there. According to the human rights activist, some residents pay smugglers to cross the border and then, risking their lives, swim to Europe. Within Turkey itself, nationalist sentiments are growing. Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly promised to deport more than a million Syrian refugees during his presidential campaign , and attacks on migrants have increased in the country .
“More people are being deported from Turkey to the province of Idlib, where they have no relatives and jobs, many cannot afford housing ,” said Ranim Ahmed, senior public relations officer for The Syria Campaign. “ Turkey only occasionally allows patients to enter for treatment, but the border is closed . ”
Iba Alzalek lives in the city of Al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. In his hometown, he witnessed the bombing many times, twice because of the attacks he had to leave. “One day I was walking to school and suddenly I heard something strange, like thunder. Later I found out that the aircraft had attacked the northern part of my city .
A ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Russia has reduced the intensity of the fighting, but the strikes have not completely stopped, Iba said. “People who hoped for the agreement to work calmly went to their daily work and to schools, but in the end they were injured or died under the blows of Russian and government forces. Russia's actions have created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among the local population .
Observers on the ground determine who owns the missiles and air forces over the province. According to Ammar al-Salmo, Russian aviation almost always remains in the sky, "they monitor the territory and conduct reconnaissance." In total, since the beginning of 2023, due to hostilities, including due to Russian bombing, at least 46 people have died in northwestern Syria , and another 184 have been injured.
The White Helmets note that the next increase in violence in the province occurred in June. Then, simultaneously with the PMC Wagner rebellion, Russian aircraft fired on a vegetable market in the city of Jisr al-Shugur in the east of Idlib, where local farmers from the surrounding area sell their crops daily. The Russian Su-34 strike killed nine people and wounded 34 others. A little later, the Ministry of Defense reported on the destruction of several weapons depots and the elimination of "terrorists".
On August 5 , a family of three died under Russian strike in Idlib. The Ministry of Defense, in turn, announced the alleged destruction of the headquarters of the “terrorist group”.
At the same time, according to human rights activists, Turkey, despite the ceasefire agreement, does not react in any way to Russian and Syrian bombing. "The only thing Turkey helps us with is that they don't kill us," Abdulkafi says.
More than 90% of the population in northwestern Syria lives below the poverty line. In addition to the ongoing war, the humanitarian situation in the region was significantly affected by the February 2023 earthquake. Then, during the disaster in the country, more than eight thousand people died, and tens of thousands more were left homeless.
In addition, in the first nine weeks after the quake, the régime shelled already affected areas at least 132 times.
“Many people didn’t have housing anyway, they lived in tents. The only thing that has changed since the devastating earthquake is that the number of tents has increased. All the people whose homes were destroyed did not receive support or compensation from the UN or anyone in the world ,” says Abdulkafi Alhamdo, who witnessed the disaster.
The earthquake affected all health facilities in northwestern Syria. Ranim Ahmed adds that the disaster has greatly exacerbated the shortage of doctors. In addition, there are no institutions for the treatment of serious diseases in the region. For example, cancer patients are being treated in Turkey.
But at the end of July, the Turkish authorities, due to the destruction of hospitals in their own country, stopped letting them in for treatment. In response, dozens of Syrians and Syrians held a sit-in at the checkpoint from Syria to Turkey. Only after a large-scale campaign, the authorities again allowed entry for treatment.
Iba Alzalek says that due to years of war, the régime's actions and the fight against ISIS, a significant gap in the level of education has formed in the province.
In addition, families do not always send their children to schools due to fear of bombings and extreme poverty.
Abdulkafi Alhamdo, an English teacher, adds that instead of going to school, children are often sent "to beg or collect rubbish that can be sold."
Extreme poverty makes local residents dependent on international humanitarian aid. The operation of checkpoints is regulated by the UN Security Council. Initially, there were four such points, but now the north-west of the country risks remaining in complete isolation. In mid-July, Russia vetoed a resolution on the delivery of humanitarian aid through the last checkpoint on the border with Turkey, proposing an alternative project that mentions the lifting of sanctions on the Assad government. Most of the other countries of the Council rejected it.
"Russia uses food as a weapon against civilians. During the siege of Aleppo, my wife was sick and could not feed her daughter, I was looking for food, which was practically non-existent. Now we see that the situation is repeating itself. The UN and the international community are once again giving the Syrian régime that opportunity ,” says Abdulkafi.
Since February 24, 2022, Syria has become one of the main allies of Russia. Its officials recognize the independence of the occupied "DNR" and "LNR" and regularly speak out in support of the war in Ukraine. The régime also helps with sending volunteers to the front and bypassing sanctions against oligarchs.
Despite this, over the past year, the régime has begun to rapidly emerge from international isolation. 12 years ago, the Arab League openly condemned the war crimes of the Syrian government. In 2023, Assad was accepted back into the organization. Before that, the President of Iran also paid a visit to the country .
While Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Assad's return to the Arab League has had a positive impact on the atmosphere throughout the Middle East,hundreds of people in Idlib met its decision by protests. “All these people have experienced the loss of loved ones, the bombing, the loss of their home, the siege and torture. Now they live in Idlib, and when they see that politicians are shaking hands with the same criminals who did all this to them, this is a big blow for them ,” says Ranim Ahmed.
Despite this, Abdulkafi remains in Idlib with his family to continue to resist and tell the world about what is happening: “I am an English teacher, so I decided to stay in Syria and continue to work. I try to teach not just English and other subjects, but how to stay strong and cope with life. The main reason I'm here is to help the small voices of my people grow louder . "
“I can’t even imagine Assad returning to the province,” says Iba Alzalek. “Everything will be in vain, everything will be destroyed, it will be a disaster. Nobody here will forget what Russia, Iran and Hezbollah did to support the régime. Mothers will not forgive them for killing their children, sons, husbands. Can we resist this? It is better to die than to see among us alive those who destroyed our country.” '
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