Amnesty International issued a report last April describing the massacres committed last March on the Syrian coast as "war crimes", based on visual evidence and eyewitness testimonies.

The Syrian presidency had announced the formation of a fact-finding committee, which was supposed to issue its investigation results last April but requested an extension.

More than two months after these massacres, the social and economic conditions of citizens on the Syrian coast are worsening.

Today, Syrian coastal areas are no longer classified according to their proximity or distance from the sea, but rather according to the type and scale of relief they require, based on four levels: burned and looted areas, displaced persons reception areas, massacre and mass grave areas, and massacre-affected and burned areas.

Yara Omran, one of the volunteers who went under the protection of the General Security Forces to distribute humanitarian aid to the victims, told Al Mayadeen English, "Let's be clear: the authorities in Damascus have not yet sent significant aid to the population here. Rather, they are merely distributing what community initiatives have been able to collect from the cities of Tartus, Latakia, and some neighborhoods of the capital, Damascus. These include medicine, baby formula, and clothing. Several aid convoys have also arrived from the Kurds in the northeast of the country."

Delkish Issa, head of the Kurdish Red Crescent, spoke about the challenges that have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian coast, pointing out that "the Damascus authorities are systematically preventing the entry of relief convoys coming from northern and eastern Syria to those areas that witnessed massacres." He called for not linking the issue of providing relief and humanitarian aid to political issues in the region.

"It can never be said that life has returned to normal," asserts Abu Suleiman, owner of a well-known shop in Jableh. He explained, "Yes, the new local officials are trying verbally to encourage people to return to work, but that's not enough! As a merchant, all my goods were looted, my shop burned, and my savings stolen. What can I do? How can I return to work without any government assistance plan?"

Another, more important aspect is security, which has yet to improve. Cameras and lighting have moved away from the Syrian coast, but unfortunately, there are dozens of individual cases of murder, kidnapping, and disappearance at checkpoints every day. It's difficult to see many people walking in the street after 8:00 pm these days. There is great fear, and it's justified. This is in addition to the significant economic rift that has occurred between the countryside and the city as a result of what I mentioned earlier.

One of the first decisions taken by the transitional government was to dismiss hundreds of thousands of employees, claiming they were surplus to state institutions and the treasury.

Related News

The Israeli Syria Dilemma

Who is a civilian? - The shifting standards of reporting in the Syrian context

According to statements by the Minister of Finance, the number of employees dismissed reached approximately 350,000, meaning thousands of families have lost their sole source of income at a time when finding new employment is difficult in a country suffering from security and economic chaos.

Randa, a nurse who was dismissed from a health clinic in the Tartous countryside, spoke to us in tears, saying, “I have nearly twenty years of service. I am very dedicated to my work, and the villagers, to whom I provided healthcare and whose children I provided, bear witness to that. But the decision was a huge shock. I asked myself many questions, none of which I could find answers to. In whose interest is this massive shortage of nursing and medical personnel? On what basis is the clinic being closed? Here, we are so far from the city, and the health sector was already struggling to survive. For whom is the state abandoning these people?"

Samara got a new job as a secretary organizing appointments at a women's beauty salon in Latakia, after previously working as an engineer at a power generation center affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity. Speaking to Al Mayadeen English, she said, "I am suffering from severe frustration and a loss of hope." She continued, "I got married last summer and was very happy. My husband was an engineer in the former army. They kicked us out of military housing without allowing us to take any of our belongings. They also fired me from my job on the grounds that I was surplus to the required number. I am back to square one. Although my husband regularized his status, no one hired him for fear of the new authorities. We now live with my husband's family, and we have no source of income other than my work."

Abu Ali travels a long distance every day, starting early in the morning. He goes from his home in his village in the Jableh countryside to the bakery in the neighboring village. He buys whatever bundles of bread he can find, then sits on the side of the road and sells them for a small profit to those who can't wait. "Thank God for everything. We are destined to always live a life of poverty and suffering," the fifty-year-old man said, then sighed and added, "I am a simple man. I used to work in the Communications Directorate, then was allowed to leave easily after my long service, because of my sect, which I did not choose to belong to. I sell bread in the morning, then work as a porter the rest of the day. My children are in university, and their expenses are exorbitant except for food and drink. The situation is difficult and hopeless. Look closely. The number of unemployed people has doubled in all households, and no one is hiring them. There is no purchasing power in the market unless job opportunities are available. We used to be satisfied with the little that was provided to us (the government salary, which is equivalent to about $40 a month, but even that little is gone. We are not like other governorates. We are not from wealthy families, and we do not have inherited professions or large businesses. Government jobs and volunteering in the army have been our main sources of income for hundreds of years, instead of agriculture, which is no longer profitable".

Travel appears to be the primary concern for residents of the Syrian coast these days, with the area experiencing severe congestion at immigration and passport offices.

The fee for issuing a regular passport is $31, while an urgent passport costs $34 and an instant one comes at $201.

Due to the restrictions imposed on Syrians and the difficulty of obtaining a visa or legal residency, many have begun resorting to smuggling methods through illegal crossings on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

According to unofficial statistics, the number of Syrians entering the Lebanese governorates of Akkar and North Lebanon reached approximately 29,000, most of them Alawite.

Thousands of Syrian coastal residents chose to travel to Malaysia, one of the few countries that grants entry visas to Syrians, as a temporary step before moving on to another country in search of safety and job opportunities.

On the other hand, tens of thousands of citizens remain refugees at the Russian Hmeimim base, fearing reprisals and lacking a place to return to after their homes were burned. Local sources said that many left the base for the Russian Perm region after being granted asylum.