Video summary
Protests have erupted across multiple cities in Syria following a sharp government increase in fuel prices, with diesel costs rising by up to 40% and petrol by 28%. While the authorities attribute these hikes to temporary global market fluctuations and maintenance work at the BAS refinery, ordinary citizens view the situation as a severe threat to their livelihood. Demonstrators have responded by blocking roads and burning tires in various towns, expressing deep frustration that rising costs for essential goods like fuel will inevitably lead to higher prices for vegetables and other food products. The public sentiment is one of desperation, with protesters demanding immediate solutions to ensure people can afford basic necessities and continue to live.
The underlying causes of this unrest are complex, involving a combination of government mismanagement and significant logistical bottlenecks that exacerbate fuel shortages. Experts note that despite reports of rising prices, many areas suffer from a genuine lack of fuel, forcing drivers to wait for hours in the heat at gas stations even when they have the money to pay. The situation is further complicated by new oil shipments arriving from Iraq through the Banas route; instead of importing the oil Syria needs, the country is effectively exporting Iraqi crude via its own territory to foreign ports. This paradoxical scenario, where trucks carrying oil pass directly past Syrian residents who cannot access it, has fueled widespread anger and a sense that the government is prioritizing external interests over the immediate needs of its population.
Beyond the specific issue of fuel, these protests reflect a broader pattern of economic hardship affecting all sectors, including telecommunications, electricity, and gas, where price increases consistently outpace stagnant wages. Although President Al-Shara has powerful international allies in nations like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, and the United States who are investing to stabilize the economy or expand infrastructure, there is skepticism that these high-level diplomatic efforts will translate into tangible relief for ordinary citizens such as vegetable sellers in local markets. The core issue remains a disconnect between international investment talks and the daily reality of Syrians facing an unaffordable cost of living with little hope for income growth.
Looking ahead, the government faces a critical test in how it responds to these economic grievances, particularly given the population's belief that their demands are reasonable rather than calls for regime change. However, experts warn that if economic instability continues without swift resolution, it could severely aggravate existing sectarian and ethnic divides between groups such as the Kurds, Alawites, and others. Historically, Syria has relied on distributing wealth through government jobs to maintain stability across different provinces, but the current erratic economic conditions threaten this model. If minority groups in peripheral regions feel excluded from employment opportunities or left without income while prices soar, the resulting tensions could quickly evolve from purely economic complaints into deeper sectarian conflicts that could destabilize the country further.
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Protests have broken out across several
cities in Syria after the government
sharply increased fuel prices. Diesel
prices rose by as much as 40% and petrol
28%, prompting demonstrators to block
roads and burn tires in several towns.
The government says the increases are
temporary and are a result of both
higher global fuel costs and maintenance
work at the BAS refinery. That though
coming as little comfort to ordinary
Syrians.
Now gasoline prices have gone up. Now
diesel prices have gone up. Tomorrow
vegetables will become more expensive
and food products will become more
expensive. Honestly, this is no way to
live. Not at all. Find us a solution to
these prices. Let people live. Let
people eat.
>> With us now, Dr. Joel Parker, research
fellow at the Moshi Diane Center. Thank
you very much indeed for joining us. Uh,
how serious a threat are these protests
to the Syrian government?
>> They're a serious uh issue for the
Syrian government. I think they
represent a kind of mismanagement on the
part of the Syrian government because uh
there's several reasons for the rise of
fuel costs. And I think one of the
interesting things is some of the
reports in English don't mention the
fact that there's just no fuel. there's
a fuel shortage in a lot of places where
people have to wait for hours at gas
stations to get gas even when they have
the money. So, so that's actually a
combination of factors, meaning if
people are like on the one hand paying
more of their monthly salary for for
gas, they're also sitting there in the
hot sun with their car turned off
waiting for two hours for for to get gas
in the first place. That makes them
angry. Uh and I think that there's a
complex set of reasons behind that um
that are partly due to governmental
mismanagement. Uh and they're partly due
to the um the new Iraqi oil shipments
coming through Banas. So it's not just
repairs going on at Banas. Uh it's the
fact that they're shipping out tens of
thousands of trucks worth of oil from
from Iraq over land uh through Syria to
Banas. And so the Syrians are watching
these trucks go through Syria and
they're not getting any of this oil or
gas. it's going to the port to be
shipped out to other places. And the
problem is the port, they only have one
port that can handle imports. And that
is where there's a bottleneck going on.
So the instead of importing oil that
Syrians need, they're exporting oil from
Iraq. And you can't do both at the same
time apparently.
>> Oh, right. It's just literally going
straight past their noses. So people are
getting really upset upset by that
understandably.
>> Exactly. Yeah. Does does this reflect do
you think a broader frustration with the
government in Damascus or do you think
people are are giving them more grace?
They they have enjoyed a period of time
where they have been given kind of a a
grace period given the just the sheer
magnitude of the task they have in front
of them to rebuild the country.
>> It's tricky to say for sure because I'll
tell you there has been a pattern of
rising prices across the board. They've
had rising prices for telecoms, rising
prices for electricity, rising prices
for gas. And so this is all kind of um
hitting them, you know, in the face with
rising prices that are not keeping up
with rising wages, uh which are barely
barely lifting up a little tiny bit, you
know, month at a time. Um so in that
sense, Syrians are upset that their cost
of living is going up, but their income
is staying basically the same. And I
think that it's a pattern that the
Syrians are finally getting really upset
about. However, I think the government
um has ways to basically make excuses
and say, "Listen, we're trying our
best." Um I will say one thing. The the
complicating thing is when people
protest about economic issues to a
government, they generally believe their
assumption is that the government is
listening to them. Um then we listen to
what they're saying. They're not saying
down with the government. They're saying
give us what we're asking. So I think
there's still a belief that the
government will help them. and how the
government deals with this is going to
be a big test for this uh transitional
government in Syria.
>> Now, of course, President Al-Shara has
been something of a a core celeb, hasn't
he? Uh globally, he has some very
powerful friends. Can we imagine some of
Syria's wealthy backers in Qatar or
Saudi Arabia might intervene to try and
stabilize the economies?
Well, um yes, that's a possibility, but
um you know, actually France has
invested in uh you know, or has promised
at least uh to to expand the port uh
that they have so that this problem
won't happen in the future. Um there's
actually German investments going in.
There's actually a lot of lot of
different sides, even US investments, US
companies are going in to invest in in
in Syrian oil. So the investments are
coming in from all sides. The question
is whether the when and when when and
how the Syrian people will actually feel
the impact of these high level talks and
investments. Um sure it looks nice on
camera like you said for al-shaw to
shake hands with the you know the
Germans and the Qataris. Um but it
doesn't necessarily trickle down to the
immediate you know vegetable seller in
in the market.
>> And of course one of Syria's uh
vulnerabilities are these uh sectarian
ethnic lines. Is there a risk that
economic hardship might aggravate those
divides with the Kurds, with the uh
Alawites, the Jews and so forth?
>> I mean, in the long term, for sure. Yes.
Uh the key, I think, uh for Syria over
over decades was to kind of distribute
wealth by by providing lots of
government jobs like you know, even
things like teachers. Um but you have
lots of other government paid jobs and
if you distribute the government money
evenly to all the different provinces
suppose in theory everybody is happy. Um
and when you have a situation where the
economy is kind of going in jumps and
halts uh from day to day not sure what's
going to happen it it can create a sense
in people in the periphery who are of
the minority groups they might feel like
well what if we don't get our our jobs
like what if we don't have any job and
you know not just the price of rise of
of prices rising you have no income
whatsoever because a lot of people
depend on the government for their
actual jobs um I mean that could
certainly raise tension. Uh, and I think
it's again it's more like a core
periphery thing than sectarian
immediately. Um, but it it certainly
could turn sectarian um if it if it
doesn't get worked out, you know,
quickly.
>> Dr. Parker, thank you very much indeed.
Great to have your analysis.