Syria – Resentment in Qamishli over high commodity prices

Location: Qamishli, Syria

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:15

Source: A24

Restriction: A24 clients

Dateline: 07/4/2022

Storyline:

With the advent of the month of Ramadan, Qamshili residents expressed dismay at the high prices of staples amid the absence of the Autonomous Administration’s control over the market. The prices of vegetables and fruits rose in the north and east of Syria as crops were damaged due to climatic factors, especially drought, leading to a shortage of supplies in the region. Also, the depreciation of the Syrian Pound (SYP) against the USD contributed significantly to the rise in prices, with many residents’ salaries being less than 100 USD.

Shot list:

– Soundbite (Abu Muhammad – greengrocer):

“Vegetable prices are high. The employee gets paid 100,000 to 300,000 SYP (about 40 to 119 USD) which reflects the purchasing power. We sell at a loss because there is no demand from customers, the reason as I said is low wages.”

– Soundbite (Ezzedine Hassan – butcher):

Despite the high prices of meat, the demand for it is high, unlike last year’s Ramadan. One kilogram of meat costs 16,000 Syrian pounds (about 6.37 USD).

– Soundbite (Seif El-Din Bahri – clothing merchant):

“The residents of Qamishli, especially in Rojava, suffer from poverty for certain reasons, the most important of which are high prices and the monopoly of merchants. We are experiencing an economic crisis for ten years. One kilo of cucumber costs 6000 SYP (about 2.39 USD), and a kilo of tomatoes costs 4,500 SYP (about 1.79 USD). “

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