There is no doubt that the year 2020 was a difficult year for the world in general, but in Syria, this country suffering from a long-running war, the difficulties were more evident on the medical and economic levels.
It is true that the security situation in the country has become much better in the past two years than it was a few years ago, but the economic situation has significantly declined, especially in the year 2020 due to the economic sanctions imposed on Syria, the deteriorating situation in neighboring Lebanon, and the spread of the new Coronavirus disease (Covid - 19).
In October 2019, protests in Lebanon began to erupt due to the slowing economic situation in the country and protests continued in the year 2020 before the start of the (Covid-19) crisis, and during the same period, Lebanese banks imposed strict restrictions on withdrawals and transfers abroad.
Because of the crisis in Syria, most Syrian merchants had bank accounts in Lebanon, which were the lungs of Syria during the crisis, but when Lebanese banks imposed the freezing of accounts, the economic situation in Syria was greatly affected.
The first case of (Covid-19) was reported in Syria, followed by a partial closure that affected already stagnant companies in the country.
In addition, the United States imposed a set of sanctions in 2020 under the so-called Caesar Act to Protect Civilians in Syria.
In December 2019, US President Donald Trump signed the law, and it came into effect on June 17, 2020.
A number of industries run by Syria have been targeted, including those related to infrastructure, military maintenance and energy production, and the law also targets individuals and companies providing financing or assistance to the Syrian government.
The United States has also recently imposed a new round of sanctions on Syria, targeting the Central Bank of Syria and blacklisting many persons and entities to stifle the Syrian government.
With the occurrence of these crises, the Syrian pound continued to decline and the prices of all materials rose dramatically. Moreover, there was a severe shortage of fuel in addition to the crisis of securing wheat for bread due to the high prices of imported wheat.
The Syrian government resorted to raising the prices of fuel and subsidized bread and addressed the situation by controlling the distribution via an electronic card distributed to citizens to determine the number of subsidized materials they can obtain per month.
Meanwhile, economists said that 2020 was one of the worst economic years to pass for Syria during the years of the nearly 10-year war.
"Indeed, out of the 10 years of the crisis in Syria, 2020 was one of the worst economic years for many reasons, the first is the Coronavirus pandemic, which caused near-destruction or halted the economy for a long time," economist Ammar Al-Youssef told Xinhua. Second, successive economic sanctions. "
Youssef drew a darker picture for 2021, saying that the economic difficulties that occurred in the year 2020 paved the way for more difficulties in the year 2021 unless Syria gets real help from friendly countries.
He added, "Unfortunately, the year 2021 will be worse than the year 2020 due to the economic collapses that occurred in the year 2020, which paved the way for a much worse economic scenario in the year 2021 unless there is an effective and swift treatment of the situation with the help of allies and friendly countries that must help Syria through Create a suitable investment climate. "
On the medical level, (Covid-19) did not only affect the economy, but also added a burden on the medical sector, which suffered a severe blow during the Syrian war.
Doctors say 2020 has been a difficult and bad year for the medical teams, who have struggled to deal with (Covid-19) cases in the country.
Doctor Tariq Al-Abd told Xinhua that the medical staff in Syria made great efforts in 2020 amid the lack of public awareness of the risks of the epidemic.
"I can say that 2020 was a difficult and bad year for us, as we made tremendous efforts, but the popular reactions were not up to the challenge," he added.
Al-Abd explained that the year 2021 should be less terrifying in terms of the epidemic, as Syrian doctors have gained experience in dealing with the virus.
"In the year 2021, Syria should have learned from previous difficult experiences that we went through in the year 2020," he said.
He added that Syrian doctors have developed, in medical terms, a much better experience in dealing with (Covid-19) cases, and how to classify mild, medium, and difficult cases, and those who can be treated at home.
"We can deal with cases regardless of their location throughout Syria," he said.
On the political level, the political solution is still in place for several years, as the Syrian government and the factions of the Syrian opposition abroad have not reached common denominators for a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Also, the efforts of the UN envoy to Syria, other than Pedersen, have not succeeded so far in bringing the Syrian opposition and the government together on one table to discuss the Syrian crisis and reach a formula for a political solution to the crisis that has passed for nearly ten years.
Imad Salem, a Syrian political analyst, told Xinhua that "a political solution is still far away, especially in light of the difficult economic conditions that Syria is going through," stressing that "the breakthroughs in the political solution to the Syrian crisis are pending despite the UN envoy's determined attempt to find a formula for a solution." Politics satisfy both parties. "
It's very critical year.