Videos and pictures showing tree cutting in Syria’s Afrin district sparked horror and shock on social media this week. Local environmental activists accuse Turkish-backed factions of involvement in “crimes against nature.”
Amid a historic drought, dozens of new wells are being drilled across northwest Syria to meet a rising demand for water. But the overpumped water table is dropping, while farmers struggle with skyrocketing costs and decreasing water quality.
In May, UNICEF abruptly reduced the water supply to Rukban camp, in Syria’s southern desert. Feeling abandoned by the international community, local groups and Syrian aid organizations are stepping in to relieve the parched camp.
Why is Turkey interested in building housing in northern Syria? Who funds and implements these projects? And why are some human rights actors concerned about Ankara’s activities?
In northwestern Syria, hundreds of makeshift refineries have mushroomed in the past five years, employing thousands of people. With no regulation, their impact on health, life and the environment is catastrophic.
Makeshift oil refineries endanger the health of workers and local communities in northwestern Syria. But their environmental impact, often overlooked, will also affect generations to come.
Two workers at a makeshift oil refinery in Tarhin speak about their job, the hardships they endure and the dreams they hold for the future.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is already disrupting global supply chains of staple goods, notably cereals and cooking oils. This is likely to impact food security in Syria, which already suffers from shortages and skyrocketing inflation.
In the remote Rukban camp, falcon trapping has become an obsession among the desperate residents. But while hunters dream of changed lives, birds pay a high price.
In the aftermath of the Islamic State attack on al-Sinaa prison, Hasakah residents are grappling with the fighting’s humanitarian fallout and worrying about the future.
