Workers in Northern Syria

Introduction:
International Workers’ Day, also known as Labor Day, is an annual celebration held in many countries to honor workers, celebrated on May 1st each year in most parts of the world, and is an official holiday in several countries. The background of this day dates back to the 19th century in America, Canada, and Australia. In 1886, workers in Chicago and then in Toronto organized a strike involving between 350,000 and 400,000 workers, demanding regulated work hours under the slogan “Eight hours labor, eight hours sleep, eight hours rest for recreation and enjoyment”. In 1889, the president of the labor unions in America wrote to the first congress of the Second International held in Paris, calling for the unification of workers’ struggles around the world to limit work hours to eight hours per day. The congress responded to this demand by calling for “demonstrations around the world” on May 1st, 1890, and since that year, this day has been celebrated as Workers’ Day worldwide.

Workers in Northern Syria:
The economic and labor situation in Northern Syria is bitter. The difficult economic and living conditions in the region have led to increased unemployment rates, and many families are unable to meet their basic needs due to rising prices and the devaluation of the local currency. Thus, some youth in Northern Syria turn to online work in search of job opportunities, reflecting the significant weakness in the local market and traditional employment opportunities.
According to a World Bank report, vulnerable Syrian families face further deterioration in their living conditions, which has been accompanied by an increase in the labor force participation rate, especially regarding workers on the margins of the job market with relatively limited income opportunities, including women, youth, and the elderly.
A survey conducted by our team at the Economic Office of the Syrian Future Current in Northern Syria since the beginning of this year showed the following:

• Wages: Ordinary workers earn between $3 – $5 per day, and skilled workers “masters” earn between $8 – $10 per day. The differences in prices due to the Turkish lira and the dollar play a role in reducing workers’ income, as more than 90% of employers pay wages in Turkish lira instead of dollars.
• More than 65% of the local population suffers from severe unemployment without work, and those who live on aid, charity, and donations account for nearly 40%, in addition to living on remittances from abroad, which account for up to 10%, while relief associations cover about 13%, making temporary daily work (70 working days per year or less) account for 37%.
• Workers in Northern Syria who are not on the unemployment list represent only about 35% of the workforce entitled to work. According to our statistics, these workers fall into three categories:
  1- Permanent workers, who make up 8% of the workforce.
  2- The rest are seasonal workers (summer or winter jobs) or temporary (commitment for a month or two at most, and some for a few days but multiple times within the year, exceeding 200 working days per year) and they represent 92%.

Challenges, Facilities, and Difficulties:
The types of work in Northern Syria vary, but the profitable businesses are those specialized in the sectors of barriers, transit, smuggling, and illicit goods, in addition to restaurants and all food-related businesses, which are crowded with money owners in the region.
This is followed by the trade sector, especially food items, then the real estate, construction, and services sector, which was significantly negatively affected after the recent earthquake, followed by agriculture, especially in the Idlib and Afrin countryside, and finally the industry, which is represented by the industrial city in the Bab al-Hawa area.
Working in Northern Syria faces several challenges, including:

1. High unemployment among civilian residents, an unprecedented rate in the region before the revolution.
2. One of the main causes of unemployment is the absence of job opportunities.
3. Many people lack sufficient experience or necessary training for work.
4. The economic crisis and fluctuation of the Turkish currency prevalent in Northern Syria have led to rising prices and a decrease in the purchasing value of salaries.
5. Additionally, the reduction of support by the World Food Programme, which led to humanitarian organizations laying off hundreds of their employees, resulted in families losing their children’s income in addition to more than half of the local population losing aid.
   Several initiatives aim to strengthen local support and the solidarity economy in Northern Syria, some of which include:
6. The Aid Fund for Northern Syria (AFNS), which aims to gather Syrian and international partners to achieve a collective mission that strives to maintain vital humanitarian aid in Syria and provides support in all areas of humanitarian needs, including health, education, shelter, and cash assistance.
7. Community initiatives, which include a range of activities aimed at improving life in local communities, involve empowering young women, growing vegetables at home, completing and equipping school buildings, and more.
   These initiatives contribute to enhancing local support and the solidarity economy in Northern Syria.
8. The security chaos due to the total absence of an executive authority, the absence of a single security body taking over security control in the region, coupled with the weakness of the “Free Police” and its limited authority; all of this has led to a state of security chaos and conflicting tasks and interests and easy penetration.
9. School dropout and the shift to work among children in Northern Syria, which ranged between 52 – 59% and affected the narrowing of job opportunities.

As for the facilities available, they are represented in that Northern Syria is an open market for all kinds of businesses without restriction, except for taxes in areas controlled by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, countered by customs in areas controlled by the interim government and factions of the National Army.
Regarding the difficulties, they are represented by the following:
1- Lack of large capitals, and a clear absence of major businessmen who can inject money into the market.
2- Loss of liquidity by many local residents and an increase in the poverty base despite the presence of financiers and owners of successful professions or participants in military or illegal activities.
3- Loss of government-supported projects (whether interim or rescue), which officials avoid for fear of questioning the source of the money, sometimes using a facade, but their aversion prevents Northern Syria from increasing projects that host a workforce.
4- Taxes in areas of the authority and customs in areas of the National Army that burden local residents and deter many from opening economic projects.
5- Fear of bombing and war.

Conclusion:
On International Workers’ Day, the Economic Office of the Syrian Future Movement recalls the suffering of workers in Northern Syria, highlighting their dire situation, which will not end without reaching a full and comprehensive solution to the complex Syrian crisis today. While waiting for this solution awaited by Syrians everywhere, we recommend temporary suggestions:
1- Stopping taxes or making them symbolic, and preventing the taking of customs at barriers, which prevents the bringing of capital.
2- Opening the door for exports that Turkey prohibits, and looking for countries that import what Syrians excel at, especially tailoring clothes and other Syrian industrial works, and preventing the export of agricultural products due to their insufficiency for local residents.
3- Increasing government support, especially setting a minimum wage, as we have previously submitted a study in our economic office titled “Raising Wages in Syria” and presented our vision and recommendations about it.
4- Supporting small projects by encouraging businessmen to adopt these projects with their fear of embarking on large projects due to war conditions.
Our economic office had a previous study on this titled: “Small Projects: An Unmet Need”.

Finally, we at the Syrian Future Movement put all our capabilities for any proposal, or to undertake any project that benefits Syrian workers, alleviating the impact of the severe economic crisis until reaching a comprehensive political settlement and implementing United Nations resolutions, especially Resolution 2254.

Inas Nasr Al-Din
Economic Office
Research and Studies Department
Studies
Syrian Future Movement (SFM)

References:
Raising Wages in Syria – Syrian Future Movement (sfuturem.org)
Small Projects: An Unmet Need – Syrian Future Movement (sfuturem.org)
The Suffering of Northern Syrian Residents from Unemployment and Poverty | News Reports | Al Jazeera Net (aljazeera.net)
The Economic Reality in Northern Syria and its Impact by the Fluctuation in the Turkish Lira – Syrian Dialogue Center (sydialogue.org)
Omran Center for Strategic Studies – The Reality of Livelihoods in Displacement Camps: A Case Study in Northern Syrian Areas (omrandirasat.org)
How Northern Syrian Areas are Governed | Politics | Al Jazeera Net (aljazeera.net)
Northern Syria: The Impact of Decreased International Support on Humanitarian Organizations and the Population (alarabiyanow.com)
Industrial Areas and Their Role in Development in Northern Syria – Youth Dialogue Forum (sydialogue.org)
Syrian Economic Observatory, Winter 2022 / 2023 (albankaldawli.org)
The Economic Situation and Living Standards in Northern Syria – Syrian Center SCIRSR (scirsr.org)