POVERTY LEAVES SOME SYRIANS TOO SICK AND HUNGRY TO FAST
▶ War, high food prices and low wages rob people of ability to observe Ramadan traditions
Rakan Al Ahmadi, a construction worker who lives in northeast Syria, says his wages are so poor that he cannot afford to fast this Ramadan.
Mr Al Ahmadi, 47, who was displaced from Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria to Qamishli in 2012 by civil war, earns $7 a day.
It is barely enough to put food on the table for his family of five.
“How can I fast this year when living expenses now far exceed my income? he asked The National. “Rent is $40 a month.
“As a manual worker, I need physical strength, which is impacted by fasting.”
Shirzad Al Kurdi, 49, who works more than 10 hours a day selling clothing at a street stall in Qamishli’s central market, faces similar challenges.
“I make $10 to $15 a day but I support my mother, who suffers from chronic diabetes and hypertension,” he said. “My daughter attends university and my two sons are in school.
“How can I afford the high prices of Ramadan?”
The family survives on vegetables, water and tea, Mr Al Kurdi said. Food costs $6 a day.
The rest of his earnings are spent on rent and his children’s education.
In Qamishli, many families said they are too poor and too hungry to fast during the holy month. This is typical of many parts of Syria this year.
Poverty has surged and soaring inflation has forced people to survive on the bare minimum.
About 12.9 million Syrians are food insecure and 2.6 million are at risk of hunger, according to the World Food Programme.
In January, the WFP was forced to end the general food assistance programme in Syria because of funding shortages, a decision that directly affected 3.2 million people.
After 12 years of conflict and economic crisis, the situation in Syria has only worsened, the UN said.
The earthquake that struck northern Syria and Turkey in February last year made the crisis even worse.
UN figures said that nearly 6,000 people were killed by the quake and more than 329,000 families lost their homes.
Economists said that living conditions in Syria are at their worst since the beginning of the 20th century. The local currency has lost more than 99 per cent of its value since 2011 and notes are worth less than the cost of printing them.
Syria’s infrastructure, weakened by the civil war, has been further compromised by years of US-imposed economic sanctions and government policies that drove up the cost of basic goods and services.
Many Syrians can no longer afford the food required to compensate for the long hours of fasting – food price inflation has increased by up to 40 per cent in the past year, the Syrian Centre for Policy Research in Damascus said.
Shaam Network, an official Syrian government website, reported the cost of an iftar meal for a family of five was at least 300,000 Syrian pounds ($20), which is too expensive for day labourers whose daily income does not exceed $10.
An imam in Qamishli said there was no provision for manual workers to break their fast during Ramadan.
“There is no precedent for this in Islamic jurisprudence, such as the permission granted to pregnant women, or the sick,” he said.
If workers became too unwell to fast, they should not eat or drink in public and must have the intention to make up for these days when their circumstances improve, he said.
But Akko, a Kurdish campaigner in Qamishli, said the problem was broader and revealed a deeper malaise in Syrian society after years of fighting.
“The problem is that people are now posting pictures of expensive dishes on social media, not worshipping God,” Akko told The National.
“Instead, they must distribute food and give alms and zakat to help the poor and needy in their communities all the year round.”
About 12.9 million Syrians are food-insecure and 2.6 million are at risk of hunger, according to the World Food Programme