Blockade of "Trio Deals" deprives Shahba people of the essentials of life

During the past weeks, Damascus government forces renewed their tightening of the siege on the al-Shahba area, which has been imposed for more than 6 years, as they do not allow the entry of basic materials, medicines, and fuel into the region, and this has had a negative impact on all aspects of life.

Due to the fuel shortage in al-Shahba against the backdrop of the tightening of the siege, the Education Authority in Afrin and al-Shahba cantons decided to suspend education in schools, which led to the deprivation of 14,500 male and female students from education.

The People's Municipality in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood also issued a statement to public opinion on December 2, in which it affirmed that "the Damascus government is practicing the policy of starving the people and imposing an unjust siege on the areas of al-Shahba, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, to undermine the will of the people and open the way for their displacement."

Using the "siege card" against the people

Despite the threats and attacks by the Turkish occupation, especially after the agreements it concluded with Russia and Iran, pressure increased on the people of NE,Syria in general and the al-Shahba region in particular. After the occupation of Afrin, the pressures increased on the people in al-Shahba with the aim of pushing them to abandon the self-administration project and surrender, where the Damascus government was. This mission is carried out by the so-called “Fourth Division”.

This siege came in stages and after each meeting of Astana and Sochi, as its first stages began after the Turkish occupation of Afrin on March 18, 2018 and the adoption of the policy of demographic change and forced displacement of the indigenous population from Afrin.

The siege increased after the ninth round of the “Astana” meeting, which was held in the Kazakh capital, Astana, between the trio of deals (Russia, Iran, and Turkey) on May 14 and 15, 2018. This meeting resulted in an agreement on the need to restore rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus.

Months later, specifically on November 3, 2018, the Damascus government imposed a siege on 6 villages in the Sherawa district of the occupied Afrin canton, especially on the weekly market of the village of Burj al-Qas, which provided all the household supplies and life requirements for these villages, and the circle later expanded. The siege includes the four districts of al-Shahba district (Tel Rifaat, Ahres, Ahdath, and Fafin) and 40 villages and towns belonging to the districts, in addition to the five camps for the displaced of occupied Afrin (Afrin, Al-Shahba, Al-Awda, Sardam, and Berxdan).

The siege intensified again after the first public meeting that took place between the head of intelligence of the Turkish occupation state, Hakan Fidan, and the head of the National Security Office in the Damascus government, Ali Mamlouk, since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, in early 2020, as information spread about concluding agreements between them to target AANES areas and tightening the stifling siege on al-Shahba district and the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Ashrafieh in the city of Aleppo.

On June 2, 2020, the Damascus government began to completely prevent fuel from entering the region, until the canton witnessed a crisis in the provision of diesel fuel, as the price of diesel fuel rose to 600 Syrian pounds if available, after it had previously been sold for 250 Syrian pounds per liter. Which led to taxi owners raising transportation fees by up to 100 liras above the old price, and some of them stopped working.

The agreements were repeated again against the Autonomous Administration, as the 17th round of Astana was held on December 21, 2021, after the fifteenth round was held on February 16 and the sixteenth round on July 7 of the same year, and it included provisions hostile to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and then, The Damascus government put pressure on international relief organizations to prevent them from providing aid to the people. In this context, the international organization UNICEF cut off drinking water for 37 villages where the displaced people of Afrin are located, justifying its action by the lack of support for them.

Ambulances were prevented from transporting patients to Aleppo hospitals except through the Syrian Red Crescent, which deliberately neglected the patients and did not transport them to receive treatment again, which led to the loss of their lives of three children from al-Shahba canton and a displaced citizen of Afrin.

Harsh repercussions on the people... paralyzed movement

This siege increases the suffering of the people day after day, and one of the most prominent crises facing them during this period is the difficulty of securing fuel and fuel, especially with the arrival of winter, in addition to the power outage in the area, which was given to the people for only 4 hours and then reduced for two hours, until it was later cut off almost completely. During the past weeks, the price of a liter of diesel reached 8,500 liras, while gasoline reached 13,500, and prices are likely to rise with the deterioration of the value of the Syrian pound against foreign currencies.

Damascus government checkpoints also prevent the entry of medicines into al-Shahba district, and the Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo, which has led to a several-fold increase in the price of medicines. Damascus argues that al-Shahba is an area outside its control.

According to the latest statistics of the Fuel Committee, al-Shahba canton needs about 30,000 gas cylinders every month, but the Damascus government banned the entry of domestic gas, causing the price of a cylinder to jump from 35,000 to 150, with fears of a complete interruption.

In addition to halting the educational process, this siege and the interruption of basic materials, electricity, and fuel paralyzed movement, as it was no longer possible to complete the projects and plans that were developed by the Autonomous Administration to provide services to the people, such as paving roads and developing public centers such as hospitals and health centers, in addition to the fact that the lack of fuel led to an increase in the cost of transportation. Amid fears that these means will stop completely.

Al-Shahba canton is heading towards the lack of the most basic necessities of life, in light of depreciation of the Syrian currency against other foreign currencies and the stifling siege by the forces of the Damascus government. Despite this, the displaced people of Afrin are resisting alongside the indigenous population, and they endure the hardship and pressures to return to their hometown again after the expulsion of the occupation.

T/Satt.

ANHA