Syria’s closure of crossings with AANES activates commercial movement at Semalka
DERIK, Syria (North Press) – The commercial movement at the crossing increased, after the Syrian government closed three crossings with the Autonomous Administration areas, an official at Semalka border crossing with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq said on Wednesday.
Since March 21, the Syrian government has restricted the civilians’ move and trade at three crossings linking its areas of control with the areas of Raqqa, Manbij and Tabqa.
“The residents of the area get enough goods through Semalka crossing, and there is no shortage of imported materials”, Haval Khalil, a customs official at the Semalka crossing, told North Press.
Khalil pointed out that the import of goods from the Kurdistan Region affected the increase in their prices in the markets, as they are bought in dollars, and that there is more than one crossing at which the customs tax is paid, because these goods come from several neighboring countries such as Iran.
As for the tax imposed by Semalka crossing, Khalil said that the customs tax at their crossing is limited to paying commercial transaction fees which ranges between two and three dollars per ton.