On a sunny day in March, shepherd Muhiddin Ahmad al-Mahmoud oversaw his flock of sheep grazing on a inexperienced patch on the outskirts of Qamishli in northeastern Syria.
His two younger sons had been shut by keeping track of the animals.
“Everybody right here has been touched by the civil battle in Syria in a technique or one other,” he mentioned as he pulled out a photograph of his oldest son, who was killed in a Turkish airstrike two years in the past.
Greater than a decade of battle has destroyed a lot of the important infrastructure in northeastern Syria. However bombs usually are not the one killer right here — sprawling makeshift refineries within the space pose a unique form of risk.
Throughout northeastern Syria, refineries present gas for automobiles, warmth and electrical energy. However this important useful resource can be making folks sick and destroying the atmosphere.
Simply past Mahmoud’s fields was a dystopian scene — a makeshift refinery the place fuel flares launched poisonous fumes and pipes spewed black smoke into the air. Small swimming pools of oil dotted the pasture. The older sheep’s wool had turned black, and their eyes had been heavy with exhaustion.
These refineries are a serious supply of earnings for native residents like Mahmoud.
He mentioned he’s grateful for these refineries as a result of they supply much-needed work for the folks round right here.
However the presence of highly effective chemical substances lingers within the air — even at this distance.
Mahmoud continues to deliver his sheep to graze on this space as he has carried out for the previous decade. He insisted that his animals are wholesome. However they don’t get too near the refinery due to the terrible stench.
Abu Heydar Amal al-Shammari is one in all 5 individuals who co-own the refinery close to Mahmoud. Shammari mentioned he was a wheat farmer, however he confronted droughts for 4 or 5 years.
“There was no rain, no water for the fields, so I had no alternative however to stop farming and search for one other job,” he defined.
The refinery produces about 200 barrels of gas every day, Shammari mentioned.
Tankers replenish the gas and transport all of it throughout northeastern Syria. A few of the ultimate product additionally makes it into government-held areas. The Kurdish administration owns the oil fields on this a part of Syria however it grants permits to non-public house owners for the refineries.
Shammari mentioned he paid $30,000 for his allow. He makes good cash, he added, with out specifying how a lot.
Jewad Khaled Mohammad has labored on the refinery for the previous six months. He mentioned he has already observed a distinction in his well being. He wakes up at evening with a tightness in his chest, will get frequent complications and has issue respiratory.
Mohammad mentioned he is aware of that his long-term well being can be affected by this work. However he has no different choices.
Different employees who requested to not be named described feeling anxious and stressed and mentioned that inhaling poisonous fumes 10 hours a day takes its toll.
The environmental injury is seen on the Al Radd River — about half an hour’s drive from the refinery. Blobs of black oil floated within the muddy water.
Downstream, sheep drank from the identical river.
Kawa Mohammad, an official from the Rmeilan area administration, mentioned this oil spill is a results of latest Turkish strikes on oil fields and refineries within the space.
Turkey sees the Kurdish administration right here as a safety risk and targets them repeatedly.
Mohammad estimated that it’s going to take at the least one yr for this river to be fully cleaned up. And, he echoed what others mentioned.
“Individuals round right here depend on these previous refineries for his or her livelihoods and for gas,” Mohammad defined. “It’s true that they trigger quite a lot of air pollution and well being issues — however what different alternative do we’ve got?”
The Kurdish administration bought new gear to improve these refineries, in keeping with him. However they’ve been caught on the opposite facet of the border in Iraq. Syria is underneath US sanctions, and so they can’t get them by way of.
So, for now, folks on this a part of the nation pay a heavy worth to replenish their automobiles, maintain heat and activate the sunshine at evening.
Editor’s be aware: Mohammed Hassan offered help for this reporting.
