'They Call Us Garbage People': Syrians Collect U.S. Troops Leftovers eat to surv

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Children scavenging for food from a heap ofทางเข้าslotxosurvival waste Image source, GABRIEL CHAIM
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Children dig for food from the heap of survival garbage.

One of the garbage dumps at a US military base. northeastern Syria It is the only source of food and income for Syrians in that region.

"People despise us. They call us trash," said 25-year-old Alia.

The latest UN figures estimate that 15.3 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. After more than 10 years of war in Syria, about 4/5 of the people do not have enough food to eat.

Alia's daughter Vala is one of them

"We came here for meat, for food because we were very hungry," said the 12-year-old girl.

In a Kurdish-controlled area of northeastern Syria, The war against the so-called Islamic State (IS) has destroyed Syria's economy.

Vala came out to dig through the trash with her mother.
image copyrightGABRIEL CHAIM
caption,
Vala came out to dig through the trash with her mother.

In the midst of piles of rubbish and toxic smoke from burning waste in the dry areas around Tell Baydar, a small group of people are looking for food scraps to eat. and find scrap plastic to sell for recycling

This was not the life Alia wanted her children to go through.

For the past three years, she has been traveling to the dump since 7:00 a.m. every day, often bringing Vala with her.

Alia's eldest daughter Which was born when she was not yet 20 years old, had to stay at home to take care of her youngest child

Alia and Vala won't return until the sun goes down until that time The family members were starving.

"I always dreamed that My daughter will go to school like other girls," she said.

"But now they're no different from me. My kids can't read and write."

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Alia's husband is a farm laborer. But when he died 10 years ago, her family fell apart.

fierce war terrible drought and poor economic conditions make her despair