The streets of Damascus look more like a closed military compound except for the narrow corridors where cars and every other sort of vehicle sit parked in long lines waiting for their turn to be inspected and the identities of all passengers checked.
Unemployment is rampant among all levels and classes of people: laborers, professionals and even industrial facility owners, especially in the suburbs of Damascus which were once the backbone of the Damascene economy.
Assad believes that his tightened security grip on the city is the only lung that his regime breathes air through to keep it alive.
Electricity continues to be cut off for long hours for residential neighborhoods, industrial facilities and shops under the pretense of nationwide rationing programs that do not include the areas where state officials, important members of the Baath Party and war profiteers live.
The cost of living keeps increasing exponentially as prices continue to rise day after day, while the local currency rate depreciates, despite the occasional meager salary increase by the regime which is supposedly intended to bridge the gap.
Money for paying bribes at checkpoints must also be factored into the cost of living for Damascus residents.
The more money that is paid, the quicker those who are forced to pay the extortion fees are allowed to pass.
A large number of the population has become dependent on help from charities and international organizations that provide support to those whose lives have been impacted by the war
Because the regime controls the Who, What, When and Where of UNHCR humanitarian aid deliveries inside Syria, much of the total budget for Syria is distributed to those living in regime controlled areas like Damascus.
In the heart of the famous Hamidiyeh market, a foreign journalist stopped to follow with his camera the movement of pedestrians in the marketplace while trying to document the daily life of Damascus.
Noticeably absent was the people’s satisfaction with their lives that Assad media continuously tries to convey.
Rather than satisfaction, the frowns on the faces of locals he captured in his photos reflect depression and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Even the shop owners whose faces usually display curiosity while standing in front of their shops appear to be uncomfortable.
The ancient city of Damascus, which consistently maintained its status of being a commercial hub throughout many centuries, has been changed by years of war into a city that is now hungry and looking for food.
There are, for example, families who once viewed lamb as a staple of their diet who no longer even remember how it tastes after prices soared way beyond the reach of their meager budgets.
Thousands of families who once made a comfortable living are now forced to survive on incomes that fall below the global poverty line which is the minimum level of income needed by an individual to be able to provide the minimum standard of living; estimated currently at $ 1.9 USD per day per person.
According to international law, the Assad regime bears full responsibility for preserving the lives of civilians.
According to, Mohammed Al Zoubi, economic specialist, the pressure exerted on the population of Damascus and its countryside through their living conditions, starting with the destruction of housing which represents lifetime investment, to the destruction of the institution that provides food, health and educational needs, to undermining the elements of production and marketing process; is all part of a larger plan aimed at adapting the country and its inhabitants.
Even though Assad tries hard to create the illusion that life in Damascus continues to be good, there are obviously many stories behind the silence that, as a result of living under the regime’s microscope, dominates Damascene society.
There are also many hidden stories of how people’s priorities and interests have changed as a result of the suffering they have endured while living in the midst of war.
They have resigned themselves to falling asleep and waking up to the endless sounds of huge explosions and the hassles of life which continue to become increasingly more difficult with every day that passes with little hope of anything changing in the near future.
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