Food agency director denounces US for causing famine in Syria

One of the causes of the food crisis in Syria is the United States and the strength of the opposition it has supported, according to a Syrian government official.

In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Damascus on Wednesday, Sami Ghassan Hillel, Director General of the Syrian government’s Public Grain Establishment, said that US forces and US-backed Kurdish forces have occupied Syria’s main wheat-producing areas, which has led to an annual reduction in wheat production from six million tons to 500,000 tons in Syria.

He said Syria was forced to import wheat after the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, but before that Syria was a grain exporter.

Hillel said government grain purchasing centers have received limited quantities of wheat during the ongoing harvest season.

“We received 500,000 tons (of harvested wheat). But our annual demand is 2.4 to 2.6 million tons,” said Hillel.

“Before the civil war, our annual wheat production was 5 to 6 million tons, enough to satisfy the need for making flatbread, our staple food, and some of the wheat could even be exported to other countries. But because of the war and because the wheat-producing areas were occupied and blockaded, we lost our advantage in wheat production,” he said.

The illegal presence of the US and Kurdish forces occupied Syria’s fertile agricultural lands between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which accounted for 70 percent of Syria’s wheat in 2011, mainly affecting the provinces of al-Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir al-Zour.

Although an area of ​​al-Hasakah province is under the Syrian government, the US and Kurdish forces have taken steps to prevent local farmers from selling grain to the Syrian government.

“They control areas around that location. Vehicles transporting wheat from villages and cities have to pass through controlled areas to reach our (grain purchasing) centers. They cut the roads, so these vehicles cannot reach us,” said a representative of the Syrian government’s Public Grain Establishment in al-Hasakah province.

Before the US occupation, the Syrian government purchased around 1.5 million tons of wheat from al-Hasakah province every year, but this year it has only managed to obtain 100,000 tons from there.

“The obstacles we face in al-Hasakah Governorate are the occupation by the US and other forces, and those that prevent farmers from delivering their grain to government centers. It is unreasonable to block the roads. We want to work for our country and provide people with flatbread which is their daily need,” said Abdul Hamid Karko, head of the Peasants’ Union in al-Hasakah.