Action Group || Rural Damascus
In a new and unfortunate development, several women in the Al-Husseiniyah Palestinian refugee camp in the Damascus countryside have complained about being harassed and insulted by bakery workers in the camp while trying to obtain bread, amid the deteriorating living and service conditions in the camp.
The reporter of the Action Group in the Damascus countryside said that the behavior of the bakery workers and managers is no better than the bread produced by the oven, a sentiment confirmed by the Palestinian refugee “Jamila” (a pseudonym) who spoke about her suffering to the Action Group.
She said, “I have to buy the unsubsidized bread every now and then because my husband is at work, and after a long struggle standing in line, I reach the window only to have the sales worker, who is the owner’s brother, start indirect verbal harassment towards me, along with dirty looks.”
Khadija (a pseudonym), one of the complainants, recalls, “Every time I buy bread, I try to throw the money on the table so the seller won’t try to grab my hand or touch me.” Asma says, “I try not to go to the bakery because of the mockery and bullying I face from the bakery workers.”
The women unanimously agreed that they fear informing their families out of concern for potential problems that could harm their relatives, due to the bakery owners’ connections with the adjacent police station and military security agencies. This situation has led to a state of fear and anxiety among the women, especially those who go alone to buy bread.
Our reporter notes that the majority of bread distribution has become through authorized distributors who exploit people’s needs, with some selling bread to those who do not deserve it in order to make greater profits. It has also become a means to extort women, all for a loaf of bread of such poor quality that it is believed to have been kneaded with dirt.
The residents of the Al-Husseiniyah camp continue to suffer from dozens of social, economic, and security problems, such as the spread of drugs, high living costs, and the dominance of security forces over the population.
The incidents constitute a blatant violation of women’s dignity, highlight the difficult humanitarian conditions faced by the refugees in the Al-Husseiniyah camp, and call for urgent measures to address the bread crisis and provide protection for women and girls