Munther Khaddam
The excessive apathy shown by the Syrians these days towards the ruling regime that brought most of the dangers to their country and made their lives unbearable, catches the attention, and they respond by seeking to emigrate.
Tyranny has succeeded to a large extent in eliminating the spirit of citizenship and patriotism among the masses of the people, since it eliminated their political spirit.
Tyranny has also succeeded in destroying the system of national values through the policy of corruption that was followed up since 1970. Whoever thinks that the widespread corruption in Syria is just a phenomenon that can be found in any country, even in some developed countries, is mistaken. Rather, it is an official policy and approach.
If all these facts were established and generalized before the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, and were of its main causes, they were exacerbated during the armed conflict and are exacerbated today after it stopped. And the natural response of people to these situations is to leave the country and emigrate.
During the years of conflict, about 6 million Syrians emigrated, and more than this number were displaced inside the country seeking security and peace.
After the armed conflict stopped and Syria turned into international areas of influence, the displacement and migration to and from these areas or outside them have not stopped, for fear of the future, as they lost hope in any political solution that would put an end to their suffering.
Remarkably, the economic reasons for emigration during the time of armed conflict were not the main due to the flow of dollars to the militants-held areas. The regime got a large part of these dollars.
Today, after the conflict has temporarily stopped, more likely the economic reasons are the ones that push people to emigrate and find a new life abroad.
It is well known that many of goods in the Syrian markets, the foodstuffs in particular, have increased more than one hundred times than they were before the crisis in 2011, while wages and salaries increased three times only.
What is more dangerous is the lack of the basic necessities of life, such as electricity, gas, and many necessary commodities, especially production requirements.
Furthermore, corruption has spread in an unprecedented way. It has rudely become publicly, so that it is not possible to solve any problem in the country’s bodies and institutions except through corruption channels, and thus paying bribes.
Today, the citizen has no dignity in the country. The regime has succeeded in distracting people from it by making the run after their own affairs, and putting the hand of each citizen in the pocket of the other, and the hand of the government in the pocket of everyone.
Facing the continuous tightening of the conditions for living, working and life in the country, many Syrians have no choice but to emigrate, and today they are crowded in front of the immigration and travel departments.
During the armed conflict, entire families left abroad, in addition to some industrialists and wealthy people.
After the temporary cessation of the fighting and the occurrence of a kind of relative stability, the competencies began to leave the country, doctors in particular.
According to some sources, about 10,000 Syrian doctors work in Germany alone, in addition to twice that number of medical students who are pursuing their studies in German universities, and it is likely that only a few of them will return to the country.
Today, with a remarkable momentum, Syrian brain drain and competencies continues, in addition to the owners of capital. Entire families are selling their properties and migrating without return.
Some media sources report that in less than a month, about 22,000 left Damascus, 19,000 left Aleppo, more than 5,000 left Homs, more than 5,000 left Tartous, and nearly 11,000 left Suwayda. This is also applied to other governorates.
About 45% of them went to Egypt, most of them were traders, industrialists, craftsmen and youth.
Not only the harsh conditions of life and work inside Syria have stimulated immigration, but also the facilities that have been granted recently by many countries for the entry of Syrians to them, and even encouraging them, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Belarus, Canada, Australia and other countries of the world.
Syrians in the diaspora have proven their success in the field of business, studies, and in whatever field they have worked in.
According to some sources, out of the top ten baccalaureate degrees in Germany, seven of them were Syrian students.
In his speech before the UN General Assembly, the Canadian Prime Minister gave an example of the success of immigrants to his country with a Syrian family that excelled in the chocolate industry, and even appointed a Syrian in the Ministry of Transport in his country.
In Egypt, its president personally opened two largest industrial facilities in Africa for Syrian businessmen. One is for the textile industry and the other is for the manufacture of fodder.
What the country is losing related to minds and cadres, billions of Syrian pounds have been spent on rehabilitating them, and it is difficult to compensate for them in the future.
It is really unfortunate that the Syrian regime does not care about that. Rather, it considers it as a source of hard currency. In such circumstances and facts, it is difficult to imagine what Syria will be like in the future, and how it will be reconstructed.