December 17, 2015

Why This Refugee Farmer Left His Land

Farming is becoming ever more difficult on lands that are getting hotter and drier.

Related Article: The Ominous Story of Syria's Climate Refugees

By Eliene Augenbraun

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The following is a translation from Arabic:

I am Mustafa Abdul Hamid, from Syria. I am 30 years old. I am from Aleppo in the north of Syria, from a town called Azaz.

Land plus water equals politics, which is power. Today, if my country has water and is rich in agriculture, we would be a strong country. During a certain period, years ago, our farmlands suffered from drought. Before this drought farming was very good and profitable for the farmers. But during the drought the profits decreased to half and sometimes even more.

Many farmers left agriculture and shifted to industries, until they even forgot all about farming. A farmer with an average monthly income of 500 to 800 U.S. dollars from farming was forced to work in industries for only 200 to 300 U.S. dollars a month. The government did not assist in well-drilling or drawing water from rivers and other water supplies such as lakes or dams. They forbid people to drill any wells. As a result, the land has been deserted.

We no longer have the beautiful nature or fertile land that could cultivate everything, that grows herbs and medicinal plants to extract drugs for medicines. The livestock—Syria is an exporter of sheep and cattle to the Arab world and others—there are no more pastures for the cattle. It has all been destroyed.

In regards to the labor, there is unemployment. The industries are no longer able to accommodate the labor that moved from the countryside to the cities.

Land is the basis and central point for humans. Wherever there is agriculture, there is life. Wherever there is wheat, there is life and flourishment [sic]. Once agriculture is destroyed, people will not only desert the land but the country as well.

If we say the government affected us 75 percent, the war has affected us 100 percent. Instead of migrating from small villages in the countryside to cities we started migrating to other countries.

—Mustafa Abdul Hamid CREDITS Producer: Eliene Augenbraun Featuring: Mustafa Abdul Hamid Videographer/Interviewer/Photographer: John Wendle Translator: Maha Ahmed Map Illustration: Mapping Specialists

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