The sacrificial areas.. Oil fields in Iraq spread cancer like the flu

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[size=52]The sacrificial areas.. Oil fields in Iraq spread cancer like the flu[/size]

[size=45]A press investigation revealed that communities living near oil fields, where gas is burned in the open air, are at risk of developing leukemia. The United Nations said it considers such places in Iraq to be “modern-day (human) offerings” where profit is prioritized over respect for human rights.[/size]
[size=45]Both BP and Italy's two major oil companies, Eni, operate at these sites. By this process, what is meant is the “absurd” burning of gas emitted when drilling for oil, which produces pollutants linked to cancer.[/size]
[size=45]On the outskirts of the southeastern city of Basra, some of the country's largest oil exploration areas are located. The gases flaring from these sites are considered dangerous because they emit a strong mixture of carbon dioxide, methane and highly polluting black soot.[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi law prohibits, for health reasons, gas burning within six miles of residents' homes, but we found gas-burning towns less than two miles from homes.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi government is aware of the potential effects of burning gas; The BBC Arabic team was briefed on a leaked report of the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which blames air pollution for a rise in cancer incidence by up to 20 percent in Basra between 2015 and 2018. The first test was conducted to monitor pollution in at-risk communities, and the results indicated levels of High exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.[/size]
[size=45]Using satellite data, it was found that the Rumaila field, the largest oil field in Basra, burns more gas than any other site in the world. This field is owned by the Iraqi government, and BP is the main contractor. In this field there is a city called “North Rumaila”, but the locals call it “the cemetery”. Teens came up with the phrase after noticing high levels of leukemia in their friends, which they suspected were caused by the gas ignition. Local ecologist, Professor Shukri El-Hassan, said the cancer there was so widespread that it was "like the flu". In 2021, we met Ali Hussein Jalloud, 19, a resident of North Rumaila and a childhood leukemia survivor.[/size]
[size=45]He refused to allow filming in Rumaila, so Ali trusted his life from the inside. Ali Hussain contacted BP on four different occasions to obtain compensation for the pollution.[/size]
[size=45]Ali shows us videos on his mobile phone showing his primary school with torches burning behind it, and because of that, Ali had to drop out of school when he was 14 to undergo treatment.[/size]
[size=45]He tells us that one day, on his way to the hospital after years of chemotherapy, he told his father, “It's over for me, Dad. Please say goodbye to my mother for me.”[/size]
[size=45]His father wipes tears at the mention of this incident.[/size]
[size=45]But Ali is now in the recovery stage, he told us, asking BP for compensation, as the main contractor in the oil field, but his request has been silenced.[/size]
[size=45]Many children in nearby villages did not survive after being diagnosed with cancer.[/size]
[size=45]Fatima Falah Najim lived 25 miles (40 km) from Ali's home in the Zubair oil field, with her parents and six siblings. Eni, the Italian oil major, is the main contractor for the Zubair field. Fatima was diagnosed at the age of eleven with a type of blood and bone cancer called acute lymphocytic leukemia, and exposure to benzene, which is found in burning gases, can increase the risk of people developing this condition.[/size]
[size=45]From Fatima's house we can see the glows that burn almost continuously; The nearest torch is located just 1.6 miles (2.6 km) from the family home. Fatima painted the “fiery fire” that surrounded her house while she was in the hospital; She told us that she enjoyed watching her at night as that became a natural thing for her.[/size]
[size=45]But for her father, watching her get sick was like "a fire was burning and I couldn't put it out". Last year, doctors managed to secure a bone marrow transplant for Fatima outside the country, but she was too ill to travel. Fatima passed away last November when she was thirteen years old.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Ministry of Health report shows that the government is aware of health issues in those areas, but the Iraqi prime minister himself issued a secret order, seen by BBC News Arabic, prohibiting employees from talking about the health damage caused by pollution.[/size]
[size=45]David Boyd, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, told us that people who live near oil fields are “victims of state and corporate collusion, and in most cases lack the political power to bring about change.”[/size]
[size=45]Ali Hussain, a leukemia survivor, said: "Here in Rumaila no one is talking. They say they are afraid to speak out for fear of being expelled."[/size]
[size=45]Until now, health researchers have been denied entry to oil fields to conduct air quality tests. So BBC Arabic worked with environmental and health experts to conduct the first independent monitoring of pollution in communities living near oil fields.[/size]
[size=45]It tested carcinogenic chemicals emitted by burning the gas over a two-week period, and air tests conducted in five communities indicated that benzene levels, which are linked to leukemia and other blood disorders, reached or exceeded Iraq's national limit in at least four places.[/size]
[size=45]Urine samples collected from 52 children indicated that 70 percent of them had elevated levels of 2-naphthhol, a form of naphthalene that is likely to cause cancer. “Children have high levels of it,” said Dr. Manuela Orguilla Grimm, a professor of pediatric cancer at Columbia University. “This is a cause for concern and means they need to be closely monitored.” The BBC presented these results to the Iraqi Oil Minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail. He told us, "We have instructed all contracted companies operating in the oil fields to abide by international standards."[/size]
[size=45]The BBC has asked BP and Eni to respond to its inquiry.[/size]
[size=45]ENI said it "strongly rejects any claim that its activities endanger the health of the Iraqi people."[/size]
[size=45]While BP said: "We are very concerned about the issues raised by the BBC, and we will look into these concerns immediately."[/size]
[size=45]• About BBC Arabic[/size]
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