Deir-ez-Zor City: Chaos, poverty, and lack of services continue even after toppling al-Assad

The fifty-year-old man, who refused to reveal his name for security reasons, sits on his wooden chair in front of his shop on al-Wadi Street in the center of Deir-ez-Zor, hoping for an improvement in the situation of his city after the fall of the former Syrian regime.

The Damascus authorities took over the city of Deir-ez-Zor before the end of last year, and have not yet achieved the services, security, safety, and provision of materials that the people of Deir-ez-Zor aspire to, and have continued to follow the approach of the Assad regime by marginalizing the eastern region and deliberately marginalizing it.

The fifty-year-old man told ANHA's agency: "I used to run a modest workshop for producing glassware before the start of the Syrian crisis, but due to the lack of support, the scarcity of raw materials, and the migration of workers, I was forced to close the workshop and now I work on selling imported glassware. My daily income does not exceed 20 thousand liras, due to the weak purchasing power of the population."

He added: "The people of the cities often work in industry and trade, but in Deir-ez-Zor there is no basis for us to rely on to work in our acquired industry, as most people here complain of poverty and helplessness."

More than fifty days after the fall of the Assad regime, Deir-ez-Zor is still suffering from a severe shortage of services, most notably cleanliness, a shortage of drinking water, and huge amounts of rubble in the eastern neighborhoods of the city such as al-Hamidiyah, al-Mufti, and al-Rashidiyah, in addition to significant damage to the electricity and sewage networks and roads, according to the residents of Deir-ez-Zor.

In addition to all that the people of Deir-ez-Zor are suffering, most government employees have not received their salaries for two months, which has made matters worse, according to what they reported to our agency.

The residents describe their city as "disaster-stricken", and poverty is evident on the faces of the people in the markets and neighborhoods, in addition to the lack of basic services such as electricity, water and roads.

Doors are closed all night

With sunset, the people of Deir-ez-Zor close their doors, whether they are homes or shops, and stay in their homes due to the chaos that the city witnesses in the evening from the sounds of gunfire and robberies and thefts by groups.

T/ Satt.

ANHA