Ramtha ‘sailors’ protest suspension of passenger transport services to Syria, Iraq

RAMTHA — Owners of vehicles that used to transport passengers from Jordan to Syria and Iraq on Sunday staged a protest against the authorities’ suspension of passenger ferrying services to the two war-hit countries.

Without disrupting traffic, the drivers parked around 50 cars on the right side of the entrance road to Ramtha, some 90 kilometres north of Amman near the border with Syria, demanding that the ban on passenger transport services to Syria and Iraq be lifted.

Speaking on behalf of the protesting drivers, Sami Abu Aqoulah said the authorities have closed the Amman-Damascus, Amman-Damascus-Beirut and Amman-Baghdad routes and imposed restrictions on the Amman-Saudi Arabia route.

He added that passenger transport to Iraq and Syria was suspended in light of the deteriorating security situation in the two countries.

“The conflict in Iraq and Syria has been going on for years and we have been carrying passengers to these countries without encountering any security incidents on the way in or out,” Abu Aqoulah said, adding that it is “better to sacrifice my life than die of hunger”.

“We are perplexed by the contradictory news reports on Syria. The international press reports a violent war in Syria while such news is always refuted by official Syrian TV, which only depicts normal daily life in Syria.”

Abu Aqoulah also claimed that trucks are allowed to travel from Jordan to Syria and Iraq, and the travel ban is only on passenger vehicles. 

He charged that the ban on ferrying passengers to Syria through the Jaber border crossing was imposed over “personal considerations” as “revenge” after one of the “bahara” insulted a security officer. 

“Bahara” — Arabic for sailors — is the term used to describe drivers of vehicles carrying passengers to Syria, Iraq and other countries.

Abu Aqoulah’s claim was supported by many of his protesting colleagues.

“There are around 1,200 passenger vehicles working on the banned routes, of which 350 are owned by people from Ramtha,” he said. “The drivers of these cars have families to support in addition to monthly dues to banks.”

Another protesting driver said the ban was imposed long before the recent closure of Jordan’s second border crossing with Syria.

The driver, who identified himself as Abu Shadi, claimed that “we were all punished after a driver insulted a high-ranking security officer at the Jaber border crossing.”

Jordan closed its border with Syria some two weeks ago as a result of escalating violence in the town of Nasib, near the Jaber crossing.

Ramtha, the Kingdom’s other border crossing with Syria, has been closed for nearly four years except for humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country in compliance with a UN decision taken last year.