Comprehensive Settlement for Daraa Residents Directed by Syrian President

Individuals at the reconciliation center in Daraa Al-Mahatta city, Syria (an image circulated on social media platforms)
Individuals at the reconciliation center in Daraa Al-Mahatta city, Syria (an image circulated on social media platforms)
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Comprehensive Settlement for Daraa Residents Directed by Syrian President

Individuals at the reconciliation center in Daraa Al-Mahatta city, Syria (an image circulated on social media platforms)
Individuals at the reconciliation center in Daraa Al-Mahatta city, Syria (an image circulated on social media platforms)

The local security committee in Syria’s Daraa province, following President Bashar al-Assad’s directives, has called for a comprehensive settlement to address the status of all willing residents seeking reconciliation with the Syrian government.

This significant development occurred on Saturday and included those who aspire to return to their normal lives, including individuals who have fled military or police service, evaded mandatory or reserve military service, those facing security or military prosecutions, and individuals who have taken up arms against the Syrian state.

The committee urged all concerned parties to surrender their weapons to the appropriate authorities and engage in settlement agreements, emphasizing that this would contribute to regional stability and enable the state to restore normalcy to the region.

Scores of individuals flocked to the reconciliation center in Daraa Al-Mahatta city on Saturday morning, engaging in the new settlement process.

“This is the third settlement I have applied for,” one individual, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

It was revealed that many young people who attended to submit their settlements inquired about the effectiveness of the new reconciliation process and sought assurance from the relevant authorities and the security committee officers in Daraa, as previous attempts at reconciliation had not cleared their security record.

These individuals included former members of opposition factions who have not yet joined the local armed formations after the settlements, as well as individuals affiliated with groups formed by the security apparatus following the initial reconciliation agreement in 2018.

Reconciliatory authorities have recently pledged to swiftly clear the security prosecutions for all applicants, reaffirming that the leadership in Damascus is keenly interested in the process.

The settlement applicant interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat pointed out that the previous settlements had similar advantages to the new reconciliation process.

The proposed settlement details include the removal of names of individuals who have evaded mandatory or reserve military service from the security lists, in exchange for a six-month grace period to join military service.

Meanwhile, military deserters or police defectors are granted a full month to rejoin their respective military or police units. They are provided with a judicial departure decision and a reenlistment assignment, with their names being removed from the security lists.

As for individuals listed as armed militants, their names will be removed from the security lists after surrendering their weapons.

Those facing security prosecutions will also have their names removed from the security lists, allowing them to resume their normal lives after engaging in the reconciliation process.

The recent settlement came after a series of meetings between local dignitaries, social figures in Daraa, and officials from the security committee affiliated with the Syrian government in the province.

Several reconciliations have recently taken place in the towns of Al-Naima, Nasib, and Umm Al-Mayazen in eastern rural Daraa, as well as in Ankhel and Sanamein in northwestern rural Daraa.

However, despite these settlements, the greater challenge remains in improving the living and economic conditions and providing essential services to the affected areas of the province, which have been subject to various agreements and decisions related to the reconciliation process that began in 2018.



Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
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Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Seated on the pavement outside a bank in central Damascus, Abu Fares's face is worn with exhaustion as he waits to collect a small portion of his pension.
"I've been here for four hours and I haven't so much as touched my pension," said the 77-year-old, who did not wish to give his full name.

"The cash dispensers are under-stocked and the queues are long," he continued.

Since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad last December, Syria has been struggling to emerge from the wake of nearly 14 years of civil war, and its banking sector is no exception.

Decades of punishing sanctions imposed on the Assad dynasty -- which the new authorities are seeking to have lifted -- have left about 90 percent of Syrians under the poverty line, according to the United Nations.

The liquidity crisis has forced authorities to drastically limit cash withdrawals, leaving much of the population struggling to make ends meet.

Prior to his ousting, Assad's key ally Russia held a monopoly on printing banknotes. The new authorities have only announced once that they have received a shipment of banknotes from Moscow since Assad's overthrow.
In a country with about 1.25 million public sector employees, civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs to make withdrawals, capped at about 200,000 Syrian pounds, the equivalent on the black market of $20 per day.

In some cases, they have to take a day off just to wait for the cash.

"There are sick people, elderly... we can't continue like this," said Abu Fares.

'Meagre sums'
"There is a clear lack of cash, and for that reason we deactivate the ATMs at the end of the workday," an employee at a private bank told AFP, preferring not to give her name.

A haphazard queue of about 300 people stretches outside the Commercial Bank of Syria. Some are sitting on the ground.

Afraa Jumaa, a civil servant, said she spends most of the money she withdraws on the travel fare to get to and from the bank.

"The conditions are difficult and we need to withdraw our salaries as quickly as possible," said the 43-year-old.
"It's not acceptable that we have to spend days to withdraw meagre sums."

The local currency has plunged in value since the civil war erupted in 2011, prior to which the dollar was valued at 50 pounds.

Economist Georges Khouzam explained that foreign exchange vendors -- whose work was outlawed under Assad -- "deliberately reduced cash flows in Syrian pounds to provoke rapid fluctuations in the market and turn a profit".

Muntaha Abbas, a 37-year-old civil servant, had to return three times to withdraw her entire salary of 500,000 pounds.

"There are a lot of ATMs in Damascus, but very few of them work," she said.

After a five-hour wait, she was finally able to withdraw 200,000 pounds.

"Queues and more queues... our lives have become a series of queues," she lamented.