Has deprivation continued to grow in Syria even as the civil war has subsided?
Emerging from Syria’s civil war, President Bashar al-Assad faces a crisis that has left at least 80% of the remaining Syrian population in poverty and seen the collapse of its currency.
The Syrian pound has lost 97% of its prewar value, amid an “unprecedented meltdown” of economic activity, down by more than 60%, an Atlantic Council report notes. “Across the country, state-subsidized bakeries, one of the few remaining protections, face daunting lineups, queues at gas stations can extend for kilometers, and diesel for heat, cooking, and transportation is becoming virtually unaffordable.” The economic stresses may frustrate Assad from regaining control of the rest of the country, the report says.
An Israeli think tank observes that ”the war in Syria has been the most destructive conflict in the Middle East since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.”
