Syrian government closes crossings to increase taxes: AANES official
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – An official in the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) said that the Syrian government increases the suffering of the people in northeastern Syria in preparation for increasing taxes on goods entering the region.
“The Syrian government’s closure of crossings aims to increase the rate of taxes and royalties on goods entering AANES-held areas for the benefit of the government’s military forces that run the crossings,” the co-chair of Economy and Agriculture Board in AANES, Salman Barudo, said.
“The government closed the crossings suddenly without any prior announcement, which negatively affected the residents of northeastern Syria and resulted in increasing prices of goods, especially vegetables coming from central Syria,” he added.
For two weeks, government checkpoints have restricted the movement of civilians and trade at three crossings linking the areas of its control with AANES-held areas.
Barudo referred that this adds to the suffering of AANES when importing the supplies to its many camps after the closure of al- Yarubiya (Tel Kocher), which had previously been the sole UN crossing for humanitarian supplies for more than 700,000 IDPs and refugees in the camps of northeastern Syria.
AANES had previously appealed to the United Nations to reconsider its decision to close the al-Yarubiya crossing, and work to deliver humanitarian aid to the region.