This photo, shared online on December 14, 2020, shows large numbers of cars queuing in front of a gas station in Damascus city, with motorists using their state-issued smart cards, a system introduced by the Syrian regime under the pretext of facilitating the process of purchasing fuel at state-subsidized prices in an organized and planned manner. SNHR notes that the country’s gas stations have been witnessing severe overcrowding since the start of September. The fuel crisis in one of several serious economic crises currently afflicting the Syrian people, with the primary reason for these being the way in which Syrian regime has run the country over the past decade.
In reality, the ruling regime is and will remain wholly indifferent to the suffering of the Syrian people. 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 which must not exceed six months.
