SUWAYDA, Syria — Residents in the southern province of Suwayda have been taking to the streets since January amid popular anger, calling for improving the living conditions and loosening the security grip imposed on them by the Syrian government. Despite initiatives promising better conditions for the province where the security situation has been relatively calm, the popular demands are far from being met, as no actual solutions to the daily crises have been proposed. In fact, the security branches affiliated with the regime have been imposing more restrictions, by arresting people and recruiting young men in their ranks and fueling the situation by ignoring the appeal of the elders to stop the arrests and kidnappings amid harsh living conditions and ongoing demonstrations.
Mohammad al-Hammadi, a journalist from Daraa who works with local newspapers, told Al-Monitor that the regime’s offensive in northern Syria to control the area and the ongoing arrest campaigns in the province of Daraa after the regime took control of it in 2018 have all affected Bashar al-Assad’s policy in Suwayda.