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Business Daily: Syria's child labour problem: Abdullah's story

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Syria's child labour problem: Abdullah's story

14/03/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Syria's child labour problem: Abdullah's story

Abdullah, 14, tells us he's been forced into child labour just to keep his family fed.

The remarkable story of 14 year old Abdullah. He lost his mother in the Syrian civil war and is forced to work in makeshift oil refineries to feed the rest of his family.

Abdullah lives in northern Syria. He is 14, he lost his mother and brothers to the Syrian civil war. For years now Abdullah has been working to feed the rest of his family, and he's just survived one of the world’s most devastating earthquakes. 

In this episode of Business Daily Ed Butler hears Abdullah's story. 

Abdullah works at the Harakat Tarhin oil refinery outside Al Bab in north-west Syria. It's a makeshift oil refinery and they make fuel to feed the cars, trucks and heaters on which the region depends.

Oil is usually refined in massive industrial buildings, run by multi-national firms, but where Abdullah works it’s cooked in the back yard. He tells us he knows how dangerous his job is but that he has no choice and must carry on working. 

Presenter / producer: Ed Butler
Image: Abdullah; Credit: BBC

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