The suicide attempt of an elderly man in the city of Daraa, after his only source of livelihood was removed, reveals the direct cost of regulatory policies pursued by local authorities without being accompanied by real economic alternatives. The removal of street stalls and kiosks, presented as legal measures, in practice becomes an added source of pressure on groups that depend on them to survive.
The incident does not appear to be isolated, but rather comes as part of a series of similar incidents the city has witnessed in recent months, reflecting growing tension linked to the narrowing of income sources in an environment already suffering from high unemployment and ongoing economic contraction. In this context, the incident stands out as an indicator of a widening gap between local decisions and residents’ living conditions.
The Suicide Attempt
An elderly man in Daraa attempted to end his life on Sunday, 29 March, in front of the city council building, after tying a rope around his neck and fastening it to a tree, in protest against being ordered to remove the “stall” he relies on as a source of income. Internal security personnel intervened to save him after a number of local residents gathered at the scene.
A video showed the same man in front of the Internal Security Command and the governorate building threatening to harm himself after the removal of a “kiosk” from which he makes a living, amid deteriorating living conditions and rising prices.
The incident sparked reactions among city residents, especially after the video circulated, as many linked what happened to mounting livelihood pressures and the difficulty of securing a stable income, at a time when already limited job opportunities are being closed off to broad segments of the population.
Not an Isolated Incident
Following the wide circulation of the recording, the Daraa City Council was compelled to issue a statement on the incident, stressing its concern for “the safety of citizens” while affirming that it would continue removing stalls as legal violations whose owners had been warned in advance. It added that the council would give the man enough time to regularize his situation and would hold a meeting with him after the incident—a formulation that reflects adherence to the same measures that drove him to attempt suicide.
The incident also brought back into focus a previous case the city witnessed last January, when a woman attempted to set herself on fire after her popular restaurant was officially sealed, before the issue turned into a public matter that drew solidarity from activists and community dignitaries, prompting the city council and district administration to reverse the decision and allow her to resume work.
The recurrence of these incidents indicates that interventions tied to removing sources of income do not stop at the level of regulation, but extend to affect a fragile social and economic balance, whose destructive impact becomes visible only when it erupts in incidents of this kind.
The Decision to Regulate Street Stalls
The Daraa City Council justifies its campaigns to remove street stalls by citing the visual blight they cause, their encroachment on sidewalks, and their impact on licensed shops, which themselves bear high costs including rents that may reach around $400 per month, in addition to taxes and service bills, while stall owners sell their goods at lower prices because of lower costs.
However, this argument ignores the reality that these stalls did not emerge as a matter of free commercial choice so much as they were a direct result of shrinking job opportunities, making it reductive to treat them as a “violation” detached from their economic context. The limitations of this approach are evident in the return of stalls after every removal campaign, despite warnings recently issued to vendors in neighborhoods such as al-Sabeel and Souq al-Sihha, along with the offering of alternatives in the Bird Street market—alternatives that do not appear sufficient to accommodate all those affected or compensate for the loss of their previous locations.
The Unemployment Crisis
This scene reflects a more complex economic reality in Daraa Governorate, where unemployment is widening amid weak economic activity and the continuing repercussions of many years of turmoil.
Finding work has become nearly impossible, as the available opportunities are limited to daily or temporary jobs that do not provide a stable income. One vendor points out that many of those working today in street stalls previously held steady jobs before losing them or seeing their incomes decline, pushing them into this type of work as a forced option.
This crisis is not limited to this form of self-employment, but also extends to university graduates who find themselves outside the labor market or in jobs unrelated to their fields of specialization, reflecting a deeper imbalance in the structure of the local market.
Figures and Indicators
Although this crisis is present in the details of daily life, no recent data are available that accurately reflect its scale. The latest statistics from the Central Bureau of Statistics indicate that the unemployment rate in Syria reached around 23.7% in 2022, with the number of unemployed in Daraa Governorate estimated at around 71,000 people, while the rate among the 20 to 24 age group reaches about 58%.
However, more recent estimates, including statements by the Minister of Economy and Industry in the transitional government, Nidal al-Shaar, indicate that the rate may exceed 60%, in light of the widespread destruction inflicted on the economy and the need for around 200,000 job opportunities annually to absorb new entrants into the labor market.
Between these figures and the reality on the ground, the gap is clear: in the absence of broader economic solutions, local measures become an added source of pressure rather than part of the remedy. This makes incidents of this kind a direct reflection of a faltering economic and social trajectory more than isolated individual cases.
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