A growing economic crisis in the war-torn country and compulsory military service has led Syrians in areas controlled by the Bashar Assad regime to seek refuge with the opposition.

Ali Tartusi, who fled the regime-controlled western Tartus province told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the economic crisis has reached a level where people cannot bear it anymore.

"The economic situation in the country is terrible. The people are struggling just to get a little bit of bread. The regime cannot find fuel for the people," he said, adding that the regime also cannot pay the salaries of civil servants.

"Most of the people live below the poverty line. Car owners wait in line at gas stations for 48 hours. The rich, on the other side, can get fuel through bribery. Poor families spend the winter trying to get warm under blankets," Tartusi added.

He called on the youth living under regime-controlled areas and said: "The future of the youth in the regime areas is lost because those who go to the military service cannot get their discharge papers. There are people serving in the military for 10 years."

Saying that this was one of the reasons why he sought refuge in an opposition-controlled area, Tartusi pointed out that he came to the northwestern Idlib province to save his future and complete his education.

Idlib remains the last major opposition bastion yet is still frequently targeted by Russian-backed regime forces despite a March 2020 cease-fire struck between Ankara and Moscow.

At least 75 attacks by the Bashar Assad regime and its allies have been recorded since the cease-fire, a human rights group told Daily Sabah last month.

Syria's war has devastated the country's economy since 2011, plunging 80% of its people into poverty, according to the United Nations.

Much of the economy in regime-held areas shuttered to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The World Food Programme (WFP) last year said food prices had doubled in a year to an all-time high across Syria. Over that same period, people in regime-held areas have faced fuel crises, a plummeting Syrian pound on the black market and steep price hikes. Damascus has blamed Western sanctions for its struggling economy.

Another civilian that fled the regime, Habib Yazen, stated that the harbor and sea in Tartus is controlled by Russia, while Moscow also established several observation points and controls the country’s trade.

"Russia is using everything in Syria for its own interests. No one can accept its country being sold to another," Yazen said, complaining about the regime.

"Electricity comes only two hours a day. No one receives enough bread. Products are expensive and continue to get more expensive."

Syrians in March marked a decade since peaceful protests against Bashar Assad’s regime erupted in March 2011, touching off a popular uprising that quickly turned into a full-blown civil war. Despite a decade of fighting and a broken country, Assad remains firmly in power and the country is economically devastated.

For years, the Bashar Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further gains of territory and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime has for years bombed vital facilities, including schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country’s population while adopting policies to make their lives more difficult.