This comes after the head of the Syrian Regime’s Council of Ministers issued a binding ruling on July 8 compelling all Syrians returning to the country to exchange the equivalent of US $100 or any other currencies accepted by the Central Bank of Syria for Syrian pounds in accordance with the latest exchange rates published by the customs and aviation authorities, which takes effect from the first of August.
SNHR notes that the regime continues to issue rules which violate fundamental principles of human rights and legitimize looting of citizens’ funds to enrich its own coffers, with the actual exchange rate on the financial market and in trade being more than double that set by the Central Bank, meaning that Syrian citizens lose about 55 to 60 dollars in these transactions to the regime.
We emphasize that while the Syrian regime is increasing food prices and reducing the availability of foodstuffs for Syrian citizens in areas under its control, it continues to spend millions of dollars every week on expenses and salaries for its security bodies, which continue to practice arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture against citizens, along with additional expenditure, also totaling millions of dollars, on the ongoing military build-up surrounding the governorate of Idlib.
In reality, the ruling regime is and will remain wholly indifferent to the suffering of the Syrian people, even if obtaining staples such as rice and sugar becomes a dream for them. The international community must act to reduce the duration of this suffering by taking further effective political steps in order to help achieve an active political transition implemented according to a strict timetable by all parties toward democracy and human rights which can guarantee stability, the return of IDPs and refugees, and the relaunching of the economy.
