RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The 60-year-old Abdullrazaq could not get a job that suits his age and his physical ability to earn a living for his four-membered family.
Abdullrazaq al-Saleh, resident from al-Furat neighborhood in the city of Raqqa, north Syria, used to work in building workshops in the city before being diagnosed with Herniated disc seven years ago.
Gradually, Abdullrazaq lost the ability to work. He is compelled to ask his sons for help in order to manage his living.
He said humanitarian aid, which he used to receive per month, subsidized his family. However, a year ago, there had been no aids provided.
As a result, the plight of his family, among others in the city, increased.
The delay in distributing aid or even its cut down proper from some parts of the city have increased the plight of IDP families and other locals which used to manage their living by receiving aid baskets provided by local societies and international organizations.
A year ago, humanitarian aid went on the decline. Right now, people in some neighborhoods receive aid while in others there is none. Previously, this aid was provided on monthly regular bases, according to locals.
400.000 IDPs
In Raqqa, both city and countryside, there are nearly 400.000 internally displaced persons representing different areas in Syria. They came to the city within the last years, according to the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs in Raqqa Civil Council.
Jihad Hassan, co-chair of the committee, said the aid disruption in some parts of the city and the delay observed in distributing in others owes to plans and schemes adopted by the committee to deliver aid to locals.
Hassan indicates the increase in number of IDPs in Raqqa increases the need to more aid which the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) needs to meet needs of families.
On June 20, the AANES announced a number of NGOs covering IDP camps withdrew from Raqqa following Turkish threats to carry out a new military operation against northern Syria.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced plans to carry out another major military cross-border incursion into northern Syria. Erdogan specified his targets in the two northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Tel Rifaat.
On July 1, Erdogan said that Ankara’s new military operation in northern Syria could begin at any moment.
“The time has come to clear these lands from the terrorist organizations,” Erdogan threatened during Tehran Summit.
Tehran Summit, on July 19, brought together presidents of each of Iran, Russia and Turkey with the Syrian issue and Turkish threats on the top of its agenda.
The reduction in humanitarian aid pushes the AANES to allocate aid to families in need, notably IDPs and families in grave need of aid, according to Hassan.
This happens as al-Ya’rubiyah (Tal Kocher) border crossing remains closed for more than two years that aggravates the plight of IDPs in the areas of the AANES.
Al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border-crossing is located on the Syrian- Iraqi border and was the most official crossing between the two countries prior to the Syrian conflict in 2011.
Prior to the crossing’s closure in 2019, which happed because of Russian-Chinese veto in the UN Security Council, 103 medical facilities were receiving aid across the crossing to northeastern Syria, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council in the beginning of 2020.
In 2014, the UN Security Council allowed aid deliveries into Syria through four border-crossings al-Ramtha crossing with Jordan, Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa with Turkey, and al Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) with Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), that are not under the control of Syrian government. However, under pressure of Russia and China, the Security Council reduced them to one in the beginning of 2020, which is the Bab al-Hawa border-crossing with Turkey.
On July 12, the UN Security Council approved to extend lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey for a further six months.
Since July 10, 2020, Bab al-Hawa has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on the resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.
Hassan says the relief baskets provided by the UN- run World Food Programme (WFP) in Raqqa have been distributed in line with a plan for four years.
He added, “Discussions are being held to target other neighborhoods and allocate aid to parts of the city.”
Not enough income
In the same neighborhood, 55-year-old Ahmad Aloush complains about the dire living conditions amid rocketing prices of all foodstuff and consumables.
Aloush, who comes from Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, says he narrowly earns a living for his family. He works in a car maintenance workshop in Raqqa, earning 40.000 SYP (equals about $9) per week.
On September 11, the USD reached an unprecedented level compared to the Syrian Pound in northeast Syria, recording 4.650 SYP selling and 4.640 SYP buying for each USD.
However, the plight is graver for families with no sustainable incomes, or whose members cannot work permanently.
In mid- March, Abdulmajid al-Sayer, member of the Planning, Development and Statistics Office said the unemployment rate in Raqqa and its countryside has reached 35.5 %, leaving breadwinners without jobs.
The unemployment percentage of the breadwinners in the countryside of Raqqa reached 39%, while it was 32% in the city, al-Sayer had told North Press.
WFP estimates that 12 million Syrians are now grappling with food insecurity. That is more than half the population and 51 percent more than in 2019.
Amid this status of the affair, Aloush faces challenges to meet the needs of his family especially since his job is not a permanent one, as burdens increase and no aid seems available.