ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Residents of Qamishli in northern Syria (Rojava) took to the streets on Tuesday to protest a recent decision by the Kurdish administration to rapidly double and triple fuel prices.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) said in a statement on Monday it is increasing the prices of different types of fuel, such as petrol and cooking gas. The decision came as a surprise to many as the country is already suffering a financial crisis and the hike is expected to affect the cost of many essentials in the area.
The unemployed, civil servants, shopkeepers and others demonstrated in Qamishli, calling for an immediate reversal to the decision.
“When the price of fuel is high, the price of everything will rise,” Marwan Omari, a protestor, told Rudaw. “We are against this decision and are calling for its immediate cancellation.”
A female protestor said she wondered how she would make ends meet, stating, “I have four children and their father has died.”
Protestor Jwan Qere said, “Our friends from the Autonomous Administration said they would compensate farmers due to the bad yield of the harvest season. Yesterday we were puzzled by the decision”
A lack of rainfall over the winter troubled farmers in Rojava, causing difficulties in harvesting their crops.
Four political parties – who are members of the administration – published a joint statement on Monday calling for the decision to be dropped.
“It is not all about fuel. The price of fuel naturally affects the prices of many essentials. We as four parties [in the administration] have released a statement, calling for the decision to be called off immediately,” Mohammad Musa, Secretary General of Left Party of Syrian Kurds, told Rudaw.
Kurdish authorities have yet to explain the main reason behind the price hike but Sadiq Mohammad, the co-chair of Rojava’s Fuel Directorate, told local media earlier that the previous prices were too low to cover the cost of fuel production and fuel had to be imported from the Kurdistan Region.
Berivan Khalid, the co-chair of the administration's executive council, said they will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to review the decision following the public's demand, according to an NES statement.
Most oil fields in Syria are located in Rojava but the inability to extract, refine or market it has caused fuel shortages there.
Rudaw has not reported any violence in Tuesday’s protest in Qamishli but local security forces (Asayish) claimed their military bases were attacked by demonstrators, who Asayish said were incited by others.
Asayish said in a statement that some “traitors and others who tamper with the public security – who have external links and agendas – want to create discord between people and the security forces.”
No political party attended Tuesday’s protest but Rudaw has learned some are expected to join the public on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Viviyan Fetah
Updated at 10:59 pm
