From Sieges To Extortion: Economy Used As A Pressure Tool Under Deposed Regime

Damascus, March 21 (SANA) Economic policies under the deposed regime were used as a primary tool of oppression against opponents, including traders and business owners, through a combination of sieges, supply disruptions and financial pressure.

These measures extended beyond standard economic regulation, incorporating confiscation, detention, financial extortion and the imposition of levies, alongside monopoly over contracts. Analysts said such practices contributed to the emergence of a system marked by limited competition and networks linked to the regime.

Industrial sector impact

Industrialist Ahmad al-Sayyad said in a personal account that he was forced to sell his factory below its value after facing sustained pressure. “After I spent my life’s savings establishing my factory, I was forced to sell it for less than its value because I could no longer withstand the pressures I was subjected to,” he said, recalling events during the Syrian revolution period.

Al-Sayyad said he established the factory in 2005 at a cost of about $680,000, but began to face difficulties in 2012 with the spread of checkpoints, levies, security threats and summons from security branches. He added that challenges including shortages of raw materials, repeated electricity outages, rising taxes and marketing constraints ultimately forced him to sell the factory for $33,000 and leave Syria for the United Arab Emirates to restart his business.

Entrepreneur Maher Hossam al-Din described similar challenges. “I lived and worked in Syria for many years and established technology and commercial projects, but harassment and security restrictions limited my ability to develop my projects freely and made it difficult to continue,” he said. He added that he later relocated his business to Oman, where he continued his work in the technology and entrepreneurship sector.

Siege of revolution areas

Economic pressure also affected areas that rose up against the regime, where restrictions on movement and supply routes led to shortages of basic goods.

Mowaffaq Khabieh, a resident of Douma in the Damascus countryside, recalled conditions during the siege years, particularly between 2013 and 2014. He said the siege by the deposed regime led to shortages of food supplies and fuel, prompting residents to rely on home farming to meet part of their needs.

Economy as leverage

Economic expert Suleiman Shaaban said the economy was used as a tool of pressure through multiple mechanisms, including internal restrictions, control over key resources and restructuring of economic activity to support networks linked to the regime.

He said prolonged restrictions contributed to rising prices and shortages of essential goods, while alternative economic systems emerged through smuggling networks and parallel markets. Support from UN and international organizations to some areas, as well as local adaptation, reduced the overall effectiveness of these measures, he added.

Shaaban said these dynamics had broader economic consequences, including currency depreciation and increased poverty levels, and contributed to social divisions. “The economy was used as a tool of pressure and subjugation, but the practical limits of these policies were clear, contributing to the worsening of the economic and humanitarian crisis across the country,” he said.

Outlook for recovery

Economic researcher and industrialist Issam Tizini said policies during the deposed regime period, including import financing regulations and consumer protection laws, contributed to the departure of many industrialists from Syria.

He said the current transition from a closed to a more open economic framework could support the return of investors and industrialists, providing momentum for recovery.

Accounts from business owners, residents and analysts outline a period in which economic measures played a central role in shaping conditions across Syria, leaving lasting effects on economic and social structures. Observers say the current phase, after liberation, presents opportunities for recovery and reconstruction based on more stable economic foundations.

N.J / A.B.D