olivia-hartono
Pushed to the brink by years of devastating conflict and deepening poverty, displaced Syrians in the northern countryside of Aleppo have turned to sifting through sprawling heaps of burning refuse just to secure daily sustenance. Near the town of al-Bab, men and women comb through toxic waste sites in search of discarded items, highlighting the extreme measures ordinary civilians must take to survive in a shattered economy.
The daily routine for many in these informal settlements revolves around expansive, smoldering landfills. Displaced individuals spend long hours traversing treacherous mounds of burning garbage, using basic tools or bare hands to unearth anything of potential value. The desperate pursuit is driven by an absence of alternative employment in an area burdened by immense humanitarian needs.
The primary objective of those working the dumpsites is the recovery of recyclable materials. Scraps of plastic, discarded metals, and other reusable refuse are carefully sorted, bundled, and transported to local buyers. While the revenue generated from selling these recovered goods is minimal, it represents one of the few tangible avenues to generate cash in an area where formal jobs have virtually disappeared.
The location of these activities, on the outskirts of al-Bab in northern Aleppo, is home to large concentrations of people who were forced from their original communities during earlier stages of the war. Having lost their homes, land, and previous livelihoods, these internally displaced populations remain among the most vulnerable residents in the region, with few resources to fall back upon.
The grim reality unfolding at these dumpsites is the direct consequence of thirteen years of relentless civil war. The protracted conflict has dismantled the nation’s economic fabric, flattened industrial infrastructure, and eroded municipal services. For millions of uprooted citizens, the cumulative impact of more than a decade of hostilities has narrowed survival options down to the most hazardous and informal forms of labor.
Compounding the crisis is the staggering scale of hunger across the country. More than a decade of warfare has left millions of Syrians confronting acute food insecurity. With food prices soaring and household purchasing power obliterated, securing enough calories each day has become a persistent, exhausting struggle for families residing in displacement camps and informal settlements.
Working amid mountains of burning garbage carries severe and immediate dangers. Landfill fires produce thick clouds of toxic smoke, exposing scavengers to hazardous fumes and harmful airborne particulates. The presence of sharp metal fragments, broken glass, and unstable mounds of compacted waste presents continuous physical threats to those working long hours on the heaps.
Despite the obvious health hazards and physical toll, the scrap trade remains a critical lifeline for those excluded from other economic sectors. The informal recycling ecosystem relies heavily on the labor of displaced workers who funnel raw materials back into local processing channels. Yet, the financial returns remain so meager that workers often struggle to cover even basic dietary needs.
The ongoing hardship highlights the deep systemic vulnerabilities facing displaced communities in northern Syria. Many households have experienced multiple displacements over the course of the thirteen-year conflict, each move further depleting their financial reserves and social support networks. Without sustainable humanitarian assistance or stable economic development, families are frequently forced into severe coping mechanisms.
The reliance on landfill scavenging also underscores the acute failure of local economies to absorb displaced populations into safe and dignifying labor. In northern Aleppo, where the concentration of displaced individuals remains exceptionally high, competition for scarce jobs leaves vast numbers of working-age adults without viable means to earn a living.
For families affected by acute food insecurity, the income derived from waste picking often dictates whether household members eat on a given day. The inability to afford staple foodstuffs has made even the small earnings from plastic bottles or scrap iron vital to preventing outright starvation within vulnerable households.
The environmental conditions at the al-Bab dumpsites reflect the broader breakdown of regional infrastructure. Unmanaged waste disposal sites, where refuse continuously smolders, have become permanent fixtures of the landscape. For the people laboring on these mounds, the burning trash is both a hazardous environment and their sole place of work.
Thirteen years into the Syrian crisis, the plight of those digging through garbage heaps near al-Bab illustrates the enduring human cost of the war. While active frontlines may shift, the underlying socio-economic devastation continues to exact a heavy toll on the civilian population, leaving millions trapped in an unending cycle of poverty and deprivation.
As acute food insecurity continues to afflict millions of people across Syria, the search for recyclables among burning mounds of trash remains a powerful symbol of the protracted suffering. For the displaced families near al-Bab, the heaps of burning garbage represent an unforgiving, hazardous, yet unavoidable means of keeping starvation at bay.
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