Assafstan: A Smuggling Haven within a Police State

This video taken by a cell phone shows one of Syria's thriving smuggling lords, a certain Ahmad Assaf, as he takes to task a local administrator who, it seems, was not cooperative enough.

The fact that the scolding takes place in broad daylight on a busy highway in a country like Syria, known as one of the most repressive police sates in the world, should not take us by surprise really. After all, putting up with people like Mr. Assaf is part and parcel of the standard modus operandi of the ruling regime. People like him can be quite handy when it comes to trafficking anything from drugs, to prostitutes, kerosene and Jihadi elements all across the countrys various borders, whose porosity waxes and wanes depending on the particular interests of the various henchmen affiliated with the regime. Indeed, people like Assaf allows for official deniability when such recourse is necessary.

Moreover, and as the ruling regime gets more and more disconnected from the daily realities shaping life on the ground outside major population centers, and even inside it, people like Mr. Assaf, who know how to navigate their way around, and who are unscrupulous enough to deal in anything, and everything, become necessary parts of the system. They cannot be reigned in unless suitable alternatives have been cultivated. It seems, that no suitable alternative for Mr. Assaf has yet been cultivated, as such, the authorities have no recourse to put up with the occasional embarrassments his public escapades will generate.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• syria
• corruption
• aleppo
• rule of law
• grassroots outreach
• human rights
• middle east

[Tharwacolamus]

It is al-Jazeerah region in Syria, where the local dialect is very close to the Iraqi dialect.

[rammjalki]

Iraq

[ramigerman]

كل خنزير و له نهاية و أتمنى نهاية هذا النظام المستبد في القريب العاجل

[Abojaafaribrahim]

No I swear I have NEVER seen the country since I left it, even though I like it , but I don't feel that I worth any thing over there, the human is like a bug.

[hustlerespect]

thank god i left the country 20 years ago? i bet you still go every summer on vacation to Syria.

[aaaaamed]

يا لطيييييييييييييييييييف الطف

وينك يا عين الاسد الساهرة لامن الوطن

[Abojaafaribrahim]

That is shame ..... thanks god I left the country 20 years ago, I am not regret

[Abojaafaribrahim]

Is it in Syria or Iraq?

[zerocosmiccosmicdust]

kes ekht ardak ya manyak