According to aid organisation Oxfam, six out of ten Syrians do not know if and how they will have their next meal. The situation could also deteriorate further because Syria is heavily dependent on grain imports from Russia, under pressure from the war with Ukraine.
90 percent of Syrians can only afford bread, rice and the occasional vegetables, the aid organisation says, based on conversations with 300 residents of the civil war-stricken country.
Moutaz Adham, director for Oxfam in Syria, said: “People are being crushed by the collapse of the economy. Around Damascus, people are queuing for hours to get subsidised bread from state bakeries. Young children are looking for garbage to food scraps.
And many families go into debt to afford food, take children out of school so they can work, and young daughters are married off early so that fewer members of the family have to feed.” According to Adham, 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line, unemployment is 60 percent, and the public sector’s minimum wage is about 24 euros a month.
According to Adham, the Syrian government has already started rationing grain, sugar, oil and rice. On Monday, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned of a global hunger crisis as many poor countries import grain from Russia.