ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Months after he was deported to Syria from Turkey, and his inability to return, Yunus al-Haj was forced to work in the “death profession” as people describe it, which caused him “fortunately” to lose only one of his hands.
The “death profession” is the name for the profession of collecting mines and other remnants of war, and dismantling them in order to sell them.
Many residents of the western countryside of Aleppo and al-Zawiya Mountain south of Idlib, northwestern Syria, depend on it as their only source of livelihood in light of the poor economic and living conditions, and lack of job opportunities.
Yunus al-Haj, 31, from the Atarib region west of Aleppo Governorate, said that in August of 2022 while he was in the factory where he used to work in Istanbul, the Turkish police raided the factory and arrested all the Syrians inside, and he was among them.
Then, they deported them to Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing north of Idlib after detaining them for more than a week in one of the deportation centers in Istanbul.
Al-Haj tried to enter Turkey because his wife and three children were there, but all his attempts failed, and he was severely beaten each time by the Turkish border guards.
After realizing that it would be difficult to return, al-Haj began searching for a suitable job to support himself and his family, which returned to Syria voluntarily, after he was unable to reach them in Turkey.
“I did not find any work, and at the time I decided to work in collecting and selling remnants of war, despite realizing the dangers,” al-Haji said.
He started working in Atarib and in its vicinity, in addition to the surrounding villages, which are littered with war remnants due to its proximity to the contact lines with the Syrian government forces.
Since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, and although the international law banned the use of mines, all parties to the conflict have worked on planting IEDs and mines in their areas of control to protect themselves against foes’ attacks, ignoring their impacts.
Between 2013 and 2022, 16,301 people lost their lives in mine explosions, according to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that pointed out that Syria has headed the list of the largest number of victims of war remnants.
“At the beginning, the work was excellent, especially since I quickly learned the types of mines, their shapes, and the types of other objects that I could dismantle and which I should not touch,” the man said.
“Frankly, it was an easy job with high income, easy money makes a person more greedy, and this is a mistake that many make, and unfortunately I was one of the victims,” he added.
While al-Haj was dismantling a mine that should not be touched, it exploded.
He said, “I saw nothing but darkness and hot blood flowing over my body, I did not know what happened until after a few days, when my hands were amputated and pieces of shrapnel hit my body, and now I am sitting at home again looking for work fits my condition.”
The Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press recorded the death and injury of 13 people in Idlib due to the explosion of war remnants.
Every morning, the 17-year-old Karim al-Sagheir leaves his house in the town of Kafr Nouran west of Aleppo and targets the houses that were destroyed in previous bombardment, to search for unexploded ordnance, and iron and aluminum fragments in order to sell them to secure his family’s livelihood and his mother’s medication.
Although the young man’s profession is very dangerous, he said that he is forced into this work to be able to secure the expenses of his family, for which he became responsible at early age after the death of his father in a Russian airstrike two years ago while he was at his workplace in the neighboring city of Atarib.
In an interview with North Press, al-Saghir said that since his return to his home in Kafr Nouran about two years ago – after a long journey of displacement – he has seen many people searching for unexploded objects and cluster bombs in the town and the nearby agricultural lands because the area is full of such weapons due to violent battles the region witnessed about four years ago.
Al-Saghir noted that people, who were working in demining, used to make good profits, much more than what he used to earn form working in agricultural, which at the time did not exceed 15 Turkish liras, made him think of working in it despite his mother’s objection.
“I started working with one of my friends, and I learned from him how to remove shells or cluster bombs and how carry them in an appropriate manner, because any mistake could lead to its explosion. After that, I started working by myself, and I used to make daily profits of more than 100 Turkish liras, and I used to sell what I collect to one of the weapons store in the town,” the young man said.
Jihad Termanini, 45, owner of a warehouse in western Aleppo, buys war remnants, including mines, missiles, empty containers, and other remnants. He told North Press that he has been working in this profession for more than seven years.
At first, he had collected and sold remnants, and about four years ago he opened a store and a warehouse to buy war remnants instead of collecting them.
“I buy a lot of war remnants every day, especially unexploded ordnance, artillery shells, tank wreckage and destroyed military vehicles,” he noted.
Termanini established a workshop with four young men working in dismantling the purchased war remnants.
He pointed out that one kilo of pure copper is sold for about $30, which goes to factories affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) to be re-manufactured locally.
The price of landmines of different types and shapes ranges between $25 and $150, while shells and missiles are unloaded from the explosive materials inside, which are often TNT, and are sold at different prices, according to Termanini.
“This profession made us search for and target areas that went through conflicts in order to collect war remnants,” he added.