Raqqa’s people suffer unemployment, despite the Civil Council efforts
Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Ahmad al-Hassan
After ISIS defeat in the city of Raqqa and the great destruction left behind, many problems had emerged in the city, as the unemployment rate was on the top.
The reasons of unemployment in Raqqa go back to several factors, such as the massive destruction of properties and the high prices, in addition to the great wave of displacement towards the city, which created a competition for job opportunities that were already limited.
Many of the unemployed people go to what they call the “museum square” every day, which is a public place where workers consider it as a gathering point where they wait for random job opportunities provided by employers with a daily income, according to the work nature.
Muhammad Al-Jasem, a resident of Al-Rumeila neighborhood, and a worker who wait in the mentioned square told North-Press about his day-to-day going to the museum square and working in any field he is offered, whether it is in building, digging, loading or anything else.
“Sometimes the income is good, but most of the times I don’t get enough for living, as the prices are so high,” said Al-Jasem.
There are other aspects of unemployment as the emergence of the so-called stalls vendors, where the vendor puts a collection of cheap goods on the sidewalks in an attempt to earn their daily living.
“I’m an owner of spare parts of a motorcycle shop, but after preventing motorcycles from entering the city, I have nothing more to do,” Muhammad Abdo, who has a small stall in Al-Wadi street told North-Press.
“So, I laid a collection of used phones in order to sell them and provide my everyday income,” Abdo added.
Taha Al-Khamis, a former taxi driver, talked about the reason of his working on a stall saying: “I enrolled my name at the Employment Office, but they did not provide me a job, so I was forced to this work”.
The Employment Office of Raqqa Civil Council had enrolled all the residents of the city and its villages in an attempt to reduce the problem of unemployment which is caused by the circumstances of the war.
In this context, Manar Al-Ahmad, an employee at the Employment Office of Raqqa Civil Council said: “We started enrolling applicants for employment since the formation of the committee in 2017, the number of applications had reached about 18,900, about 7000 applicants were employed in all fields available in governmental and non-governmental institutions”.
“The committee is still working on receiving applications and offering job opportunities through projects offered by other operating organizations in the city, and vacancies available in the Council’s departments,” she added.