صفاء خلف | Safaa Khalaf
@safaakhalaf.bsky.social
Award-winning Iraqi investigative journalist and independent researcher covering political, environmental, and social issues in Iraq and the Middle East. www.safaakhalaf.com
Glad to contribute a chapter to the new Friedrich Ebert Stiftung report on war and the environment in the Middle East, exploring how environmental decline, water scarcity, and collapsing rural livelihoods are reshaping conflict and social relations in Iraq. collections.fes.de/publikatione...
Glad to contribute a chapter to the new Friedrich Ebert Stiftung report on war and the environment in the Middle East, exploring how environmental decline, water scarcity, and collapsing rural livelihoods are reshaping conflict and social relations in Iraq. collections.fes.de/publikatione...
يواجه العراق أزمة بيئية تاريخية، إذ تحولت المشكلات البيئية إلى قضايا وجودية تتنافس عليها المجتمعات المحلية والسلطات، حيث تُعتبر المطالبات العامة تهديدات أمنية، مما يؤدي إلى قمع منهجي ضد المجتمعات المتضررة. ورقة بحثية نشرت لصالح مبادرة الاصلاح العربي في يناير 2026. safaakhalaf.com/2026/03/25/%...
#العراق، بحكم موقعه الجغرافي وتاريخه السياسي وتركيبته الاجتماعية، لن يبقى هامشاً في المعادلة الدولية - الإقليمية الجديدة، بل فاعلاً يتجسد فيه التغيير. وأي إعادة ترتيب إقليمي ستنعكس مباشرة على شكل نظامه السياسي ووظائفه. goo.su/TpTHs
#Iraq is facing an active environmental crisis that has turned into an existential challenge and a “social problem”. Policies are driven to curb popular grievances, aiming to prevent them from developing into an influential “social movement” that could threaten the political system. goo.su/o9dBhLY
How sad the Iraqi government would allow this historical site, for many the cradle of civilization (and for many Christians the Garden of Eden), be destroyed. The marshes' heritage is priceless. But in a world where "homo economicus" reigns supreme, world heritage no longer has any value or meaning
صفاء خلف | Safaa Khalaf@safaakhalaf.bsky.social · 8mo agoUnfortunately, Dr Eric, the population is now below 20,000; the marshes have dried up and turned into an oil-industrial zone; no reed houses remain; and their ancient culture is being erased. People are merely struggling to survive with a little water. The world that you are keeping in mind is gone.
I swam in the al-Ahwar (Iraq's marshes) in May of 1980. The water, which was filtered by papyrus, was so pure you could drink it. Between Saddam, post Saddam corruption fueled by greed for oil wealth, Turkey's damning the Euphrates & climate change, the marshes seem like they will never recover
صفاء خلف | Safaa Khalaf@safaakhalaf.bsky.social · 8mo ago#Oil is wiping out the Hawizeh Marsh in southern #Iraq. Once a #UNESCO-listed wetland, it has been turned into a drained, militarised industrial zone through cross-border water policies, oil expansion, and security zoning, destroying its social and #cultural heritage.📗EN: goo.su/m9ar
![Oil wipes out the Hawizeh Marsh in southern Iraq
[When the marshes are erased… not only the water disappears, but also memory, history, people, and the future.]
This study presents the process by which the Hawizeh Marsh in southern Iraq is disappearing. It is the result of a complex interaction between cross-border drainage policies, the expansion of oil exploitation, institutional and legal fragility, and the militarisation of the area, leading to the destruction of the social and cultural fabric. In 2016, the ancient and exceptionally large historical marsh, which is closely linked to the wetlands of the Tigris and Euphrates delta, was partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Since the 1990s, and at a faster pace since 2010, Hawizeh has gradually been transformed into a drained industrial area, dominated by Chinese-French-Malaysian oil consortia operating in partnership with the state. This transformation has taken place under the cover of ambiguous legislation, which has allowed the marsh to be appropriated and divided into ‘security zones’ and commercial zones, limiting the free movement of inhabitants and restricting their access to water.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hnodz2yddpubaorzaqylhtnc/bafkreidj56pol25lut5szex75pvkrk544l7ycc3fckkixmdcnotvzotdke)
Two new reports by @ccfd-tsolidaire.bsky.social highlight the environmental costs of continues oil exploration and extraction in southern #Iraq that affects marshes, part of the @unesco.org protected sites. ccfd-terresolidaire.org/wp-content/u... ccfd-terresolidaire.org/wp-content/u...
محو هور الحويزة بفعل مشاريع نفطية لشركات فرنسية وماليزية وصينية فضلاً عن وزارة النفط العراقية، بات موثّقاً في دراسة: "النفط يمحو هور الحويزة في جنوب #العراق: حين تدمّر الشركات موقعاً مُدرَجاً على قائمة التراث العالمي"، تستند إلى وثائق سرّية، من بينها عقود التشغيل والاستيلاء على الارض والمياه. goo.su/ADB1q0
Two new CCFD reports by Safaa Khalaf highlight the environmental costs of ongoing oil exploration and extraction in southern #Iraq, and their devastating impact on the Marshes, part of the UNESCO protected #heritage sites. 📗 Executive Report: goo.su/wb20sw 📗 The full study: goo.su/m9ar
#Oil is wiping out the Hawizeh Marsh in southern #Iraq. Once a #UNESCO-listed wetland, it has been turned into a drained, militarised industrial zone through cross-border water policies, oil expansion, and security zoning, destroying its social and #cultural heritage.📗EN: goo.su/m9ar
In #Iraq, #women are losing water, livelihoods, and #cultural heritage. My study in the #Hawizeh Marshes finds that it is not a temporary #environmental crisis, but a systematic process driven by drainage, #oil expansion, and militarisation. Changes place the greatest burden on women. goo.su/XO4nhyn
