海角大神

The sermon鈥檚 thundering reproach hit on what residents of Raqqa, Syria, capital of the Islamic State鈥檚 self-described caliphate, say is a recurring theme at Friday prayers: 鈥渕igration.鈥�

鈥淒on鈥檛 you know the dangers endured and the price our holy warriors pay to come here, the heart of the caliphate? And you? You want to go the land of infidels,鈥� the IS preacher said, according to six Syrian siblings who fled in January.

It was the last sermon they heard, say the siblings, who made their way to Turkey with the help of a complex chain of smugglers.聽

鈥淚S picks up on the chatter on the street so they know people want to leave the 鈥榣and of Islam鈥� for the 鈥榣and of infidels,鈥欌�� says the eldest, Hamza.

Leaving聽Raqqa has聽become increasingly difficult and expensive, but many Syrians are still making the journey to Turkey.聽They are聽tired of聽the jihadists鈥櫬燿raconian decrees,聽but also聽of rising prices and a life under constant bombing,聽which has made life difficult even for those who have preferred IS rule to that of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

鈥淥f course they know people are leaving IS areas,鈥� says Hamza, a 28-year-old construction worker now working as a tailor in the outskirts of Istanbul.聽鈥淭hey are lining their pockets with commissions from the smugglers.鈥�

But聽Qayss,聽his brother, who still sports a longish beard in line with the dictates of the terrorist group, interjects, furious at the hint of IS corruption.

鈥淎s long as you respect their boundaries, their presence is better than the alternative, definitely better than the regime,鈥澛爃e says, sullenly. 鈥淢ost IS members wouldn鈥檛 dare steal or take bribes, if not out of fear of God, out of fear of their commanders.鈥�

The bottom line

The brothers 鈥� who requested to use pseudonyms for their safety 鈥� run the spectrum of views when it comes to IS. Hamza is the most critical of the group. Adnan聽says he聽started to hate them after a foreign聽jihadi聽fighter pulled a gun on him to get ahead in a ridiculously short bakery line.

Like a meticulous accountant, Amer weighs the perceived positives, which includes the closure of brothels and the reintroduction of Islamic dress and prayer, against all the negatives.聽The youngest,聽Qayss聽and Omar, still view them kindly.

But they all concur that life in Raqqa was untenable. In the end, they say, the arbitrary airstrikes of Syrian and Russian forces, coupled with inflation and lack of jobs, spurred them to leave.聽

鈥淲hen IS first came,聽80聽percent of the population was happy, 20 percent was not,鈥� says Amer. 鈥淣ow it is the opposite because of the excessive pressure they put on the population.

For their sister, a reprieve

鈥淚n the beginning everyone could go anywhere, even women as long as they had a male escort,鈥� he says. 鈥淭oday even men aren鈥檛 allowed to leave IS territory except under very special circumstances, such as seeking medical treatment.鈥�

The brothers say they stayed in Raqqa as long as they did largely because their father was sick with lymphoma and wanted to die in his land, which he did in December. He received treatment in regime-controlled areas, but all the back and forth, coupled with medical care for Qayss after he got into a serious car accident, dried up their savings.

They spent the last of their money on smugglers and are now trying to work to save up and make the journey to Europe, although it would mean being further away from their mother and another brother who decided to stay put in Raqqa.

Their sister, Hanan, is the happiest in Turkey. Failure to observe proper attire in Raqqa earned her a fine of 4,000 Syrian pounds聽as well as 30 lashes for聽the brother who came to collect her. Going to the market to get fruits and vegetables is once again a pleasure, as is again being able to access Internet and watch satellite TV.

鈥淎s a fully veiled woman in Raqqa, you can鈥檛 even see where you are going,鈥� she says, relaxing at home in leopard pajamas.聽鈥淚S will pick on you for anything, plus you are in a state of constant fear of being bombed.鈥�

Skyrocketing inflation

The prices of fruit and vegetables, the family says, witnessed a five-fold increase because prices are pegged to the dollar and IS insists certain fines be paid in gold.聽When they left, a gallon of cooking gas was selling to IS members for 1,100 Syrian pounds,聽or聽$3, whereas Syrians聽were聽paying at least six times as much on聽the black market.

By聽late January, gasoline聽 cost 650 Syrian pounds per liter; diesel fuel costs 150聽 pounds per liter, while a gallon of cooking gas聽had聽reached 10,000 Syrian pounds, according to a resident still living there.

Leaving Raqqa聽has聽also become prohibitively expensive. The journey to Turkey used to cost 15,000 Syrian pounds, including the fee for the cross-border smuggler. Now, a minimum of six smugglers might be involved in the journey from IS areas to Syrian regions controlled by Arab or Kurdish rebels and onward to Turkey.

In聽the聽siblings鈥櫬燾ase, the journey added up to 125,000 Syrian pounds per person 鈥� $325 or the equivalent of at least three months of construction work.

To reach Turkey the family first journeyed to Manbij, an IS-controlled town in the northern province of Aleppo, hid in a chicken coop overnight, and then hiked seven kilometers to the nearest checkpoints held by rebels linked to the opposition Free Syrian Army.

Can Raqqa be liberated?

鈥淭he first person in the smuggling chain doesn鈥檛 know the last,鈥� explains Adnan. 鈥淎t every stage the smuggler is a local who advises you where to say you are going at checkpoints to sound credible.鈥�

For others the journey can drag out longer. For the family of聽Abu Zahra, natives of a small village in Raqqa Province, the journey to Turkey took 16 days.聽Abu Zahra聽says he decided to leave IS-controlled territory because two militants had set eyes on his 20- and 18 year-old daughters and he worried that his son would be conscripted to fight with the group, which some of his own relatives have joined already.

鈥淲hen my cousin gave birth in Raqqa, IS fighters were thrilled because they had a new 鈥渕ujahid,鈥� or holy warrior, he recalls. 鈥淭he Syrian people are caught between two fires: the regime and IS. If the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell, I am certain people would have the courage to kick them out.鈥�

That鈥檚 a scenario that Hamza and his brothers simply rule out. The fall of the IS-controlled city of Ramadi in Iraq coupled with the proximity of Kurdish factions to the self-styled capital of the caliphate may have raised hopes that the 鈥渓iberation of Raqqa鈥� is feasible, but people there are too terrified and oppressed to revolt.

鈥淚f conditions continue to worsen there is a small chance that people will rise up, but it is truly tiny because everyone is terrified,鈥� says Adnan. 鈥淎nyone against them is an infidel. For IS, beheading someone is as聽simple and easy as聽saying聽hello.鈥�