Scavengers Search Dumps

A Syrian official reports that there are more than 40,000 scavengers who make ends meet by searching through dumps. According to Kassioun, the Syrian Communist Party’s newspaper, the scavengers are organised as a mafia that sends children out to search for saleable items in garbage dumps around Damascus. The problem is increasing despite official efforts to stop the scavengers.



One child said the goods are bought up by traders who pay the children very little, perhaps 20 euros for a truckload of reclaimed items. Children have reportedly quit school to work on the dumps, despite the health hazards. Impoverished people are resorting to this work because of the deteriorating economic situation and the migration of people from rural to urban areas.