Head of SIFFA, Muhammad Kishor, said on Wednesday that the Jordanian authorities did not give a justification or reason for preventing several Syrian trucks from entering for a period of 10 or 15 days, indicating that Jordan is managing the entry of Syrian goods poorly, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported. 

The last meeting between the Jordanian and Syrian authorities to discuss a decision to facilitate the transit of trucks was three months ago, despite the Syrian authorities’ recent request for a meeting to figure out a way to secure the entry of trucks, according to Kishor.

Kishor spoke about the Jordanian authorities’ whim regarding the crossing of Syrian trucks, indicating that Jordan allows one truck driver in for every ten it prevents from crossing.

Syrian trucks crossing to the Gulf via Iraq

The route to the Gulf from Syria via Iraq is longer than crossing through Jordan, Kishor said.

He added that the transit fees through Iraq’s Arar border crossing are cheaper than crossing the Jordanian territories, indicating that the Jordanian authorities charge 2,300 US dollars for every truck that crosses its lands towards Gulf countries.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia opened the Arar border crossing on Nov. 18, 2020, and the Iraqi authorities do not charge Syrian trucks going towards the Gulf any transit fees. But, Kishor denied the possibility of passing through Iraq because the Iraqi authorities do not grant a visa to Syrian truck drivers.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer.