| Popis: |
As the world is crippled by the novel coronavirus pandemic, countries across the Middle East are bracing for an unprecedented fallout. A region that continues to bear the brunt of many wars, conflicts, and authoritarian oppressions has been held hostage to an invisible virus rampaging through its nations, indiscriminately affecting and infecting all parts of their populations. Already dire socioeconomic situations in many of these countries have been exacerbated by the closure of workspaces and educational facilities, the concomitant rise in redundancies and unemployment, increased social and political frictions, decimation of markets, and a further plummeting of economies. As official livelihood structures crumble under the weight of increasingly impoverished and unsupported populations, the informality of life will only intensify across the Middle East, as it will elsewhere in the world. While informal networks of working, living, and socializing are crucial for the survival of disadvantaged communities across the Middle East, these have taken a direct hit from nation-wide and government-mandated closures and restrictions and increased digital surveillance. These measures, combined with public fears and safety concerns, have largely kept Middle Eastern populations at home and off the streets. It is only a matter of time before these predicaments become intolerable for the many already trying to endure in precarious environments, compelling collective anger and resentment to once again spill out into the open. |
