A video that was circulated last week in Syrian media outlets has stirred great controversy and fear among Syrians living abroad or who have been displaced by the conflict in their country. It has also highlighted the extent to which the regime of Bashar Al Assad is suffering financially and willing to collectively punish those it chased out of their homes.
The official video featured Elias Bitar, a senior military official in charge of the department in the army that deals with reserves and exemptions from military service. In it, he said the government might seize the assets of Syrians who were over 42 years old and had not paid their military exemption fines – a threat that is likely to have an outsized effect on refugees who fled the country and opponents of the regime living abroad.
By law, Syrians are required to serve in the armed forces for a period as conscripts, but they can be exempted under certain conditions, especially if they reside outside the country and pay a large fee to the authorities. Until recently, the option of paying a fee applied only to Syrians living abroad for a few years. Obligatory military service has long been a tool used by some Arab governments to build a form of attachment to a symbol of national identity and to control the influx of young people into job markets with limited opportunities. This became a critical tool for the Syrian regime as the country descended into civil war.
The regime of President Bashar Al Assad is facing financial difficulties. AP Photo
But due to the economic crisis facing Syria, a perfect storm caused by a lack of foreign currency due to the crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, wartime sanctions, and the subsequent lack of reconstruction funds from abroad to rebuild the destroyed country, the government has taken steps thought unthinkable in the past to secure a sustainable source of funding from an already impoverished population.
In 2020, the government began allowing Syrians residing inside the country to pay a (smaller) fee to secure an exemption from the draft. Those living abroad had the requirements for how long they must live outside Syria before being eligible for exemption reduced. Depending on how many years you spent outside the country, you could be expected to pay between $8,000-10,000.
The government has had the power to confiscate deserters’ assets for a few years now after amending the relevant laws during the war. These measures allow the government to seize the assets of deserters if they do not pay the exemption fee after they reach 42 years of age, to sell them off, and possibly to even freeze the assets of their family members, without due process. But the fact that the government is threatening to do so now shows the dire straits it is in, in addition to essentially being an attempt at extortion.
Syria's economy is in tatters and does not appear on the verge of recovery. Despite winning the war militarily, the Assad regime continues to preside over an economy so decrepit that it could not afford to lock down the country during the coronavirus pandemic. The hyperinflation and banking collapse in neighbouring Lebanon has contributed to the crisis in Syria, where the currency has largely collapsed, and basic staples are becoming too expensive for many families. The regime's refusal to entertain any prospect of reform or serious negotiation with the opposition has resulted in western sanctions remaining in place. In addition, the US during the Trump administration imposed extensive, stringent sanctions as part of the so-called Caesar Act that shut out Syria and its political and business elites from the global financial system.
A textile factory in Aleppo, Syria. The Assad regime continues to preside over a decrepit economy. AP Photo
The government has grown so desperate for hard currency that it has imposed various fees over the past few years to recoup some wealth from its own citizens. Syrian passports are the most expensive in the world, at $800 (more if you are in a hurry), which is more than three times costlier than the next passport in line. In 2020, the government imposed a tax on its own citizens returning to the country, requiring them to exchange $100 at the fictional official rate, in effect imposing a visa fee on its nationals.
The military conscription measures are an obvious cash grab attempt from a regime that, despite a military victory, is economically crippled and has no immediate prospects for revival. But more crucially, it shows how little it values the lives of those who oppose it, or even those who fled the violence to protect their families. Many people evaded military service because they wanted nothing to do with the brutality of the war, and at any rate those living abroad as refugees certainly cannot afford to pay $8,000 to get out of serving in the military. Instead, they risk conscription, detention, or other more severe punishments upon their return.
Syria remains unsafe for its dispersed people. But its regime does not want them to return either – it would rather extort them for protection money, like the mafia it is.
Kareem Shaheen is a veteran Middle East correspondent in Canada and a columnist for The National
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
