Families with limited income in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad are facing economic difficulties that have increased during the current Ramadan month and with the arrival of Eid al-Fitr, especially with the absence of charitable organizations that usually provide support and aid during this time of year.

In light of rising prices and difficult economic conditions, these families find themselves forced to bear additional financial burdens to secure their members’ needs during Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Awaiting assistance

Despite the need for assistance among families in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad, support remains limited and relies on individual initiatives, which are unable to cover the shortage as prices continue to rise and the number of needy families increases.

For the past three years, the forty-something-year-old Salma al-Azawi from the village of Bir Ashiq, affiliated with Tal Abyad, has relied on support from a charitable organization during Ramadan, where she received food aid.

She told Enab Baladi that her husband worked in construction but suffered a fall that caused spinal displacement, making him unable to continue working.

Since the beginning of Ramadan this year, she has not received any support at all, except for limited individual efforts to distribute food baskets to the neediest families, which were insufficient to cover her basic needs, according to her.

As for Ahmad Kamal (38), he has not found work in Ras al-Ain for more than a year, after previously working at a car wash that has since closed.

Before Ramadan, Kamal registered with several charitable organizations in hopes of receiving financial or relief aid to provide for his family of six, but he did not receive any response from them.

He told Enab Baladi that he registered with more than ten charitable organizations but received no relief or financial assistance from any government or non-government entity, whether during Ramadan or before it.

The situation is similar among hundreds of families in the cities of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad, which stretch along 120 kilometers on the Turkish border and have a population of more than 253,000, according to statistics obtained by Enab Baladi.

Charitable organization support decreases for residents in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad – March 10, 2025 (Enab Baladi)

Limited support in Tal Abyad

The aid provided in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain this year during the month of Ramadan is deemed inadequate, and the available support does not meet the urgent needs of the residents, which limits the ability of this aid to create a tangible impact on improving conditions in the two cities.

Younis Sheikh Suleiman, the executive director of the Rashid Humanitarian organization in Tal Abyad, told Enab Baladi that the support this year has been extremely limited, especially since the majority of funding organizations have directed their support to other Syrian provinces.

He explained that, compared to last year when the organization distributed around 10,000 food meals during Ramadan, this year they are attempting to maintain the distribution of only about 5,000 meals.

As for food baskets, last year they distributed 700 food baskets, while this year the quantity will not exceed 300 baskets at most.

Sheikh Suleiman added that the organization is doing everything it can to provide assistance to the residents of Tal Abyad, who are suffering from siege and a lack of job opportunities.

He pointed out that the situation in the area has become more difficult, especially with the few organizations supporting the region, which threatens to worsen the humanitarian situation even further.

Families with limited income in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad are facing economic difficulties – March 10, 2025 (Enab Baladi)

60% decrease in support in Ras al-Ain

On her part, Intisar Duda, the director of the Social Services Directorate in the local council of Ras al-Ain, told Enab Baladi that support this year has decreased by 60% compared to 2024.

She explained that the directorate, in cooperation with several associations and organizations, is working to distribute about 13,000 Iftar meals daily in Ras al-Ain, which is much less than the 20,000 meals distributed daily in 2024.

She added that the directorate provided lists of names of those in need to associations and organizations, but much of this has not been implemented due to the limited support directed to the associations, making the efforts this year modest compared to previous years.

She indicated that the main reason for this decline is that the majority of supporting parties have directed their attention to other Syrian provinces, particularly Aleppo and Damascus, due to the population density in those areas and the urgent need there.

The residents of the two cities primarily rely on agriculture as their main source of livelihood, and the Syrian pound is the primary currency traded in the two cities, but the disrupted economic reality has burdened families, making it extremely difficult to secure their daily needs.

As for the Turkish lira, despite not being widely circulated, it is the second currency due to the proximity of the two cities to the Turkish border, while the US dollar occupies the third position.

Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad are located along the Turkish border and are under the control of the interim government of Damascus, surrounded by battlefronts with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Turkish border is their only outlet to the outside world.