Residents of northeast Syria protest rising fuel prices
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, residents and political parties of northeast Syria began to protest yesterday’s decision by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to raise the prices of fuel and household gas.
On Monday, the Autonomous Administration’s Executive Council issued Resolution 119, raised the prices of many fuel items; the price of super grade gasoline rose from 210 to 410 Syrian pounds (SYP), the price of imported premium gasoline rose from 1350 SYP to 1950 SYP, and a household propane tank rose from 3,000 to 8,000 SYP.
Fuel Directorate co-chair Sadiq Muhammad Amin previously stated to North Press that the old fuel prices were too low to cover costs of production and importation of fuels, especially as fuel needs to be imported from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq due to the inability of oil wells in northeast Syria to cover the needs of the whole region.
Despite this explanation, the decision met with immediate and widespread backlash from residents of northeast Syria, who took to social media on Monday night to vent their frustrations. One commenter referred to the decision as “more dangerous than COVID-19.”
Some explained that the economic crisis in Syria, brought about by the fluctuating exchange rate of the Syrian pound, western sanctions on Damascus and an embargo on Syria’s northeast, massive drought caused by the drying of the Euphrates from Turkey, and a decade of war will only be made worse by this decision.
Four local political Kurdish parties made a statement on Tuesday calling on the Autonomous Administration to reverse the decision, calling it “ill-considered” and unjust,” and a group of tribal
Also on Tuesday, merchants and traders gathered in the main market of Qamishli city, closing their shops in protest of the decision. Many shopkeepers stated that they do not know which prices to set and how to calculate new production and shipping costs amid the price increase.
Similar protests also broke out in the cities of Shaddadi and in Girke Lege, where shopkeepers shut their doors to protest the decision.