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Iraq

Blood and Oil: Displaced Yazidi Refugees Making a Dangerous Living in Northern Iraq

SEBASTIAN MEYER

Zaidoon's 17-year-old cousin, Jamal, darts between the refinery's enormous storage drums. He is trying to fill a jerry can with gasoline for one of the truck drivers which has pulled up with an empty tanker. Jamal runs over to the huge drum that holds the gasoline and throws open the spigot at the bottom. A jet of black liquid shoots out which then turns clear. Jamal cups his hand and catches some of it, bringing it up to his face as if he's about to take a sip.

What he's actually doing is sniffing to see if the liquid is water or not. In these big drums, the water and gasoline separate and the heavier water sinks to the bottom. Because the spigot is also at the bottom of the drum, Jamal isn't getting any gasoline, just handfuls of smelly water.

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