Syria rations fuel supplies after Suez Canal closure

War-torn country was already suffering from fuel shortages because of sanctions

Drivers wait in line to refuel at a petrol station in Aleppo, Syria, in 2019. Reuters

Syria is rationing the distribution of fuel in the country amid concerns that shipments could be delayed because Egypt's Suez Canal was blocked by a giant cargo ship, the oil ministry said.

The container ship was stuck sideways in the Suez Canal at the weekend, as authorities prepared to make new attempts to free the vessel and reopen the crucial east-west waterway for global shipping.

Even before the Ever Given ran aground, Syria was suffering from fuel shortages mostly caused by western sanctions.

The country has long struggled with deteriorating economic conditions and shortages of basic goods and medicine. Syrians are forced to wait in lines to buy subsidised bread and fuel.

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  A Syrian girl receives bread from a Turkish charity near the Syrian town of Tal Abyad on October 18, 2019. AFP

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  Syrian demonstrators carry bread loaves during a protest against President Bashar Al Assad's regime in the coastal town of Banias in 2011.

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  A child near the Syrian frontlines between ISIS and US backed Kurdish militia in eastern Syrian on January 31, 2019. AFP

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  Young Syrians prepare in the besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on February 27, 2018, before the district fell to the Bashar Al Assad regime. AFP

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  A man carrying bags of bread walks past US military vehicles in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province along the border with Turkey on February 8, 2020. AFP

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  Civilians evacuated from the Baghouz region in eastern Syria after the defeat of ISIS wait for bread handouts from Kurdish militia in 2019. AFP

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  Food aid comprised of of bread and water for civilians in Eastern Syria in March 2019. AFP

The oil ministry said fuel was being rationed to allow basic services such as Syria's hospitals, bakeries and water facilities to continue to function while the canal remained blocked.

Earlier this year, the Syrian government raised the price of fuel, including fuel products that had been subsidised, by more than 50 per cent. It also raised the price of cooking gas.

Nearly 80 per cent of Syrians live in poverty, and 60 per cent are food insecure – the worst food security situation yet seen in Syria, according to the United Nations.

A decade of conflict has devastated the Syrian economy, isolated its government and displaced millions of its people.

The pandemic restrictions put increased pressure on the economy, compounded by the financial crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, which has been a bridge to Syria economically and financially.