Taxation prevents markets recovery in northern Aleppo countryside
Aleppo — North-Press Agency
Dijla Khalil / Masoud Karrad
Residents of the northern Aleppo countryside suffer high prices of goods and products, due to the imposition of the Syrian government checkpoints customs taxes on the goods entering the region.
With the control of Jabhat al-Akrad, a military faction operates under the Syrian Democratic Forces umbrella, over the region in 2017, And the displacement of local people of the Afrin region to northern Aleppo after Turkey and its backed armed groups took control over the region on 18 March 2018, the markets of the northern Aleppo countryside witnessed a remarkable activity, but prices have risen in a way that does not compatible with the people’s purchasing power.
Increase of the Prices
Ibrahim Badal from the village of Fafeen in the northern countryside of Aleppo explained to North-Press that the market movement has become good after the arrival of displaced people from Afrin, pointing out that the customs taxes they pay on goods are high, forcing them to raise the prices.
Nisreen Mendo, a displaced woman from Afrin and owner of a clothing store told North-Press that they suffer from the customs they pay, which hinders the movement of the market somewhat, and she explained that they cannot bring expensive goods for the inability of people to buy under the poverty situation in the region.
Mohammed Mahmoud, a displaced person from Afrin, told North-Press that he only works to earn his living, complaining that he doesn’t make much money in his work.
Providing loans
In order to activate the market movement and improve the situation of the people, the co-chair of the Economic Board at the Autonomous Administration in Afrin, in northern Aleppo countryside, Moushira Mulla Rashid, said that they have provided financial loans to the displaced people from Afrin.
Mrs. Rashid said: “We distributed 1,029 loans to the displaced people, ranging from small to large loans, and about 15 beneficiaries completed their full entitlements.”
Regarding future projects, Mrs. Rashid pointed out that they will grant loans in the second stage in the form of economic communes (associations), noting that the owner of the project, who provides jobs for the largest number of individuals, will get the approval for granting the loan.
Many opposition armed groups have been in control of the area of the northern countryside of Aleppo since 2012, and there have been fierce battles between the dominant groups and those fighting to impose their grip on them, while the fierce fighting led to the almost complete destruction of the buildings in the area.
While currently, there’re more than 350,000 internally displaced people from Afrin region, where most of them live in five IDP centers in the northern countryside of Aleppo.