Manbij, Syria (North Press) – The39-year-old Mustafa Muhammad, daily worker from the city of Manbij, northern Syria, has not been able to buy schools supplies for his three children due to high prices.
Muhammad makes 10.000 Syria pounds (SYP, equals $2) from working in constructing.
He told North Press that the daily wages are not enough in light of soaring prices and declining value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar.
Prices in Manbij witness spike due to the collapse of the Syrian pound, recording 4.500 SYP against the US dollar.
He said that residents become victims of the dollar’s exchange rate in tandem with declining value of daily wages and lack of job opportunities.
He added that even employees are looking for other works outside their working hours to improve their living conditions.
On Sunday, the exchange rate reached 4.650 SYP for sale and 4.640 SYP for purchase for each USD.
The city of Manbij, east of Aleppo, is one of the most important industrial centers in northern Syria, as it is a transportation hub and sits on a commercial road linking the Autonomous Administration held areas with those of the Syrian government, in addition to opposition-held areas in northern Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS liberated Manbij from ISIS in 2016 following fierce battles.
Following its liberation from ISIS, the Arabs, Kurds, Circassians and Turkmen, who constitute the fabric of Manbij, established their own administration under the name of Democratic Civil Administration of Manbij and its Countryside to run the affairs of their region. Then, this administration joined the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Manbij residents accuse traders of controlling and monopolizing prices.
The 40-year-old Jum’a al-Sami, a trader from Manbij, said the first reason for the price’s hike is the collapse of Syrian pound and closure of crossings.
Al-Sami added that they import commodities and pay their price in dollar or its value in the Syrian pound.
Like other traders, al-Sami pays high costs for buying goods from importers in Manbij, thus they are forced to pay extra expenses that are added to the goods’ price because the goods pass through several areas until they get the city, and let alone taxes paid to parties in control of these areas.
“Products arrive in Manbij through very long routes, thus, costs of these routes add to the products’ price by about 50%,” he said.
The goods that come from Syrian government-held areas to northeastern Syria pass through areas controlled by Syrian opposition factions because crossings that link between the government areas and those of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) are closed.
These goods are subject to custom duties by these three parties [government, opposition and AANES].
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
Al-Sami pointed out that the traders’ profits don’t exceed 5% of the total value of any commodity.
There are 1.700 traders in Manbij, including 200 traders of foodstuffs, while the rest trade in other materials, according to statistics by the Chamber of Commerce.
There are three main crossings in Manbij, supply the areas of northeast Syria with goods.
The crossings are al-Tayha, 30 kilometers southwest of Manbij, it links AANES-held areas with the government ones, Umm Joloud, 25 km northwest of Manbij, and Aoun al-Dadat, 20 km north of Manbij, with the opposition-held areas.
Hamoud al-Mustafa, spokesman for the Manbij Chamber of Commerce, said, “We suffer from al-Tayha crossing the most.”
Al-Mustafa told North Press al-Tayha crossing would have saved a lot of costs and shortened distance, if the goods accessed from the government-held areas directly to those of the AANES.
Since March 2021, the Syrian government has been closing three crossings, al-Tayha, Tabqa and Abu Asi, which link between government-held areas and those of the AANES.
Goods travel from the government-held areas through the Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions-held areas to reach the AANES-held areas, according to al-Mustafa.
He added, “products, come especially from Aleppo, travel to Mersin and then to our areas. This is added to the costs paid by the traders.”
As a result, traders add costs of transporting the goods to their prices, and consumers got harmed and accuse traders of raising prices, according to al-Mustafa.