Hussam Muhammed, Baladi News, Damascus Countryside
The holy month of Ramadan has started with much more complicated conditions than last year as the people of the countryside of Damascus are facing much harder circumstances amidst the tight besiegement imposed by the regime on all the cities that have rebelled against it. The month of fasting came to reveal the horrible humanitarian situation that many Syrians are facing in several areas in spite of the agreed-upon truce with the regime years ago.
In the eastern Ghouta, Ramadan came after “two wars”; one of them was between the revolutionary factions therein, while the second was waged by the regime along with its allied foreign militias, in which they took over the food supply in the area that aggravated the agony of hundreds of people who have been besieged for years.
Yasser Muhammad, a media activist said in an interview with Baladi news: "Syrian regime along with its local and foreign militias intended to advance into the depth of eastern Ghouta through the southern sector gate, which is considered its main food supply exploiting the infightings Al-Ghouta witnessed which led to the withdrawal of a whole faction from the southern area and resulted in the inability of the other factions to bridge the gap".
Mohammad pointed out that the regime has been trying for months to advance on that front which is considered the main food supply of the entire sectors of Ghouta. Occupying such areas by the regime forces left hundreds of thousands of people without their crops as they took over about 50 thousand acres where the entire eastern Ghouta is unable of finding the alternative.
The media activist stressed that taking control over the entire southern sector was a very important target for the Syrian regime as it emptied al-Ghouta of massive amounts of wheat, agricultural crops and fruit trees which resulted in a state of agricultural drought which we haven’t seen its results yet, but the coming days are going to be extremely hard for Ghouta”.
"The prices in Ghouta have skyrocketed and some fundamental materials are missing while the regime-held areas have everything; they have all kinds of food and sweets" said Muhammad. He also pointed out that many habits of Ramadan were canceled due to the siege and poverty that prevailed over all the cities and towns of Ghouta.
"In western Ghouta, the cities of Darayaa and al-Muadamiyat are still under a tight siege where the regime is blocking the fundamental foodstuffs from entering the city while the UN, Red Crescent and Red Cross settled for only entering medical supplies, vaccinations and baby milk”, according to Muhammad Abdul-Rahim, a media activist.
Abdul-Rahim also added that the regime prevents civilians from going out the city but allows students and state employees to go out and return. However, they go under a strict checkup; they can’t even bring a biscuit into the city.
Moreover, the prices in Daraya and al-Muadamiyat are extremely high because the absence of fuel. Although the Syrian pound regained some of its value against the Dollar, the prices are still rising.
“In Madaya and al-Zabadany, a year has passed since the siege and displacing of civilians began where 126 people were killed due to starvation and malnutrition. The city is still besieged in spite of all international calls to open up humanitarian corridors” according to Omar Muhammad, a Syrian journalist.
People of Madaya are suffering today from the lack of food or medical supplies and this is the second time Ramadan comes during a horrible siege where they remember how the families used to gather, but today the families are displaced; some died, some fled the country and some are still trapped in the city suffering from hunger and sickness. Many children, women, young people and elderly don’t know what the days are going to be like under such besiegement imposed by the regime and Hezbollah's militias.