DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Recent data from Damascus University indicates a big difference in the percentages between the male and female students, as many male students have dropped out of university due to the compulsory military service laws that prevented them from completing their studies and exposed them to fears of arrest and money extortion, they said.
Students at Damascus University are forced to stop their university studies due to their inability to obtain the deferment of the compulsory military service.
These students exceeded the age permitted for the deferment, which is 26 for students in the four-year faculties and 27 for five-year faculties.
Years ago, the conditions of war in the country caused the suspension of movement between the governorates, the discontinuation of a large number of students from attending their faculties, and the high failure rates, which in turn, led to the loss of their opportunities to deferment.
Majority of students are female
The reluctance of large numbers of male students to complete their studies has significantly reduced their numbers during lectures amid majority of females.
Recent data from the University of Damascus has revealed a difference between the numbers of male and female students, the latter being tens of thousands higher than males.
According to data issued from the Department of Statistics of the University of Damascus, the number of female students reached 152,821, compared with 108,453 male students.
According to the same source, the total number of students at Damascus University is 261,274.
Since the start of the Syrian war 10 years ago, many young Syrians have refrained from joining the government army that committed violations against civilians.
Some youths of Damascus preferred to travel out of Syria to escape compulsory service, while others remained out of sight of the security checkpoints and patrols throughout the city.
Rejected applications
The 29-year-old Ratib Khair al-Din , a pseudonym of a student at the Faculty of Arts, was forced to drop out of his faculty after he has been wanted for the compulsory service.
Two years ago, Khair al-Din tried to obtain a compulsory service deferment, but all his attempts failed, forcing him to drop out of faculty and start a business in the city of Jaramana in Rif Dimashq.
“In 2019, I applied for an administrative deferment, but it was rejected by the General Recruitment Directorate, and then my request for a travel deferment was also refused due to not serving the military service,” he told North Press.
Despite his concerns, he continued attending university before being arrested by a “mobile” patrol, to release himself later through paying a bribe of 200,000 Syrian pounds (SYP).
Mobile patrols, called by Syrians as security patrols and non-static checkpoints, aimed at ambushing young people wanted for security or compulsory military service.
After this incident, Khair al-Din decided to suspend his studies for fear of being arrested again.
Life like prison
The neighborhoods of Damascus are teeming with young men who have evade the compulsory service, as their movements are restricted within their neighborhoods for fear of being captured by the mobile patrols.
The 30-year-old Issam al-Shawal, a pseudonym of an Economics student at Damascus university that he had to leave due to the military service, told about the daily challenges he faces.
Al-Shawal described his life “as a prison, where he could not move within the place he lives, except to a few streets.”
“Although my family’s financial condition is very difficult, I have been unable to go out to search for work for three years, for fear of being arrested and taken to the military service.”
The student attributed his refusal to join the government forces to his unwillingness to “take up arms and defend a group of thieves controlling the country,” as he described it.
Blackmail
As for Ammar al-Dalati, 26, a pseudonym for a student at the Faculty of Science, he tried hard to obtain a military service deferment, but to no avail.
He said that he turned to an officer in the Recruitment Department to get a military deferment, “but I was deceived and blackmailed.”
“At first he asked me to pay 700,000 SYP, but later, he sometimes threatened to hand me over, and sometimes asked 2 million SYP in order to get my military booklet back,” he added.
He pointed out that one of his friends was also subjected to a similar situation by a member of the military intelligence.