Manpower problems in Syria's Army

The article “New recruitment drive indicates deep manpower problems in Syria´s army” was published the 22nd of  November 2016 by The Washington Spot.

Here we can see how the Syrian army said it had formed a new body of volunteers to join its five-year war campaign (the Fifth Legion) so it encouraged men 18 and older to be enrolled. The volunteers would work alongside allied forces with the Syrian government, "eliminating terrorism" and giving "safe and stable" back to the country. In a speech last year, President Bashar al-Assad, showed the problem as a "human capacity deficit." Although he insists that defeat does not exist for his army. The number of military force continues to be insufficient, thus damaging the ability to maintain land without the help of its allies.

So, "We know that the Syrian army is facing a serious shortage of labor due to separation, abandonment, evasion of drafts and casualties," said Faysal Itani, a resident member of the Rafik Hariri Center of the Atlantic Council for the Middle East .

Men fleeing military service, despite those who manage to defer it with a payment of a certain amount, without luck; like some men who were arrested just as they were trying to leave Syria.

Given that the Syrian economy is in free fall, Damasco's war effort has been strengthened by two powerful militia forces (the Tigers Forces and the Desert Hawks), that pay higher and allow recruits more freedom to reap the spoils of war.

Knowing the need for Syrian army military recruits for upcoming or future wars or unforeseen events, we think that if those men of sufficient age fight oppose or flee from this, they are arrested and transported against their will to certain places which is unfair and against human rights. And this is why this is one of the main reasons Syrians leave here country everyday, they want to have at least the right of leading their own life, they don’t want the government to decide the way they are going to die and their daily life in such devastating environment.

Elena Díaz Prieto and Paola Molina Almarcha.