Qamishli shipping companies shut down as Semalka closure bites
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – All cargo shipping companies in northeastern Syria have suspended services due to the continued closure of the Semalka-Faysh Khabour border crossing with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
An employee at a shipping company in the city of Qamishli, speaking on condition of anonymity, told North Press, “many goods belonging to the region’s residents, who wanted to send them abroad, are stacked in warehouses without a way to ship them.”
The closure of the border crossing has directly affected our work, as we are no longer able to ship goods abroad, he said, adding that now the majority of their employees are without jobs.
He noted that they used to receive daily shipments of goods from abroad through the border crossing, in addition to sending weekly shipments to foreign countries. Currently, all operations have come to a complete halt.
On May 11, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) closed the crossing, prohibiting commercial traffic, without providing detailed explanation for the closure or setting a date for reopening.