Tartous Governorate Removes Commercial Kiosks Amid Sharp Backlash

Like the Damascus and Hama governorates, the Tartous governorate has been removing commercial kiosks since mid-March despite widespread objections from their owners who are not offered an alternative.

Local administrative units began removing the kiosks in accordance with Ministry of Local Administration and Environment Decision No. 1809, issued in December 2021, which is itself based on a previous circular, No. 347 of January 2019. That circular set the licence duration period of the kiosks at three years, ending at the start of 2022. The kiosks slated for removal are known as “support kiosks” and were granted to people with special needs. They previously had no specified time limit. Meanwhile, Decision No. 1809 grants kiosks owned by the war-injured or family members of war “martyrs” additional time, with their licences expiring at the end of 2022.

The kiosk removal campaign began in mid-March, in the Karaj Al-Jadid, Karaj Al-Qadim and Karaj Al-Sheikh Saad areas of Tartous city. Many owners of other kiosks, fearing that their kiosks and goods could be seized, and preferring not to clash with municipal authorities, decided to dismantle their kiosks and move them to other areas at their own expense. Legally, kiosks belong to their owners; the role of the local administrative units is simply to grant kiosk licences so that owners may occupy sidewalks and other public spaces in exchange for an annual fee. During the removal operations since March, owners dismantled their kiosks under police control, and with the heads of relevant neighbourhood committees present, alongside employees of the city’s Department of Technical Services, the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper reported.

The governor of Tartous sent a letter in January 2022 to the Tartous City Council asking that it address the issue of the kiosks in line with the decision of the Ministry of Local Administration. That same month, the governorate announced its intention to send 1,556 warnings to kiosk owners should they fail to meet the terms of the licence period. The kiosk owners raised objections in response and protested, prompting the governorate to retract the announcement. However, the governorate later began to implement the kiosk removal decision by surprise in mid-March.

The majority-Alawite, coastal governorate of Tartous represents one of the regime’s most important bases of popular support. It is also home to among the highest number of war-dead and wounded among Syrian regime forces. Talk of the kiosks often centres around the wounded and killed, as many of them were granted to the wounded, as well as family members of dead soldiers. There are around 2,500 commercial kiosks in Tartous city alone, providing income to thousands of families, according to official estimates.

Removal of the kiosks prompted widespread resentment from the owners themselves, as well as from Tartous residents in general, according to official news reports and social media. In some cases, owners whose kiosks were under threat of removal accused municipal authorities of “betraying the blood of the martyrs,” “disrespecting the sacrifices” of regime soldiers, and tossing their families to an unknown fate as the kiosks represent their sole source of income amid difficult economic conditions.