War-weary Syrians seek food, fuel in new trade with Kurdistan
Through an informal border crossing overseen by the KRG, thousands of Syrians are traveling on foot each day to and from Iraqi Kurdistan to buy food and fuel for their families.
Syrian smugglers begin the 4 hour walk from Iraq into Syria. Due to the recent conflict in Syria there is a gasoline shortage in the country. Syrian smugglers purchase gasoline in Iraq and smuggle it into Syria for a profit of about $0.40 per liter. Smugglers carry between 10 and 30 liters per person on the 7 hour roundtrip journey that often takes them through frozen mud and snow. (ARAM KARIM/Metrography/Iraq Oil Report)
SHILAKAY, IRAQ - Bent beneath the weight of their sacks, their faces wrapped in scarves against the cold, dozens of Syrian men begin their four-hour walk home, back across the Syrian border.
They had come that morning to Shilakay, a cluster of concrete houses near the town of Feyshkhabur in the northwest corner of Iraqi Kurdistan. The men are part of a daily procession of up to 3,000 Syrians – consisting mainly Kurds, but also including Arabs from as far away as Aleppo – who have walked for miles to buy food and fuel.
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