Last August Zaidoon and his family fled from their home on the outskirts of the city of Sinjar when ISIS militants launched their genocidal campaign against the Yezidi population. Along with thousands of their fellow Yezidis, the family escaped from the jihadists by climbing Mt. Sinjar which lies to the north of the city. They ran for eight days through the blistering summer heat and until they reached the security of the Kurdish Region of Iraq. There they found work and refuge in an oil refinery on the outskirts of the city of Sulaimaniyah. Today the family live in a shipping container a few dozen yards away from the refinery where the young men of the family work with no safety equipment. Zaidoon is planning to smuggle his family into Germany, but as he waits to save enough money to pay the smugglers, the family continues to live in deplorable conditions exposed twenty-four hours a day to dangerous chemical pollutants.
05/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Jamal (17) smells petrol coming out of a container to test it for its water content.
Jamal, a Yezidi boy from Sinjar, lives with his displaced family next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. He and his cousins run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
05/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Jamal (17) jumps between large storage drums at the refinery.
Jamal, a Yezidi boy from Sinjar, lives with his displaced family next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. He and his cousins run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
15/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: A photo album of wedding pictures of Zaydoon and his wife, Hayam.
Jamal, a Yezidi boy from Sinjar, lives with his displaced family next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. He and his cousins run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
15/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Ghazal picks green leaves for cooking.
Ghazal, a Yezidi woman from Sinjar, lives with her displaced family next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. Her sons and nephew run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
15/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Zaidoon (20), poses in front of an oil refinery with a piece of tension workout equipment.
Zaidoon is an amateur bodybuilder who was displaced from Sinjar by ISIS. He now lives with his displaced family next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. He runs the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment along with his brothers and a cousin.
15/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Sardesht (13), Ezidiar (9), and Jamal (17) play in polluted water near the banks of the Tanjero river.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
15/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Ezidiar (9) watches his brother Zaidoon (20) check the valves on the machinery at the refinery.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
17/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Ghazal hangs up the family laundry while holding her grandson, Mazal.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
17/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Ghazal sweeps outside the shipping container where she lives while Sardesht looks into the cabin where his brothers and cousin sleep.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
17/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Sorbets (22) adjusts the electric fuel pump at night.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
18/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Sorbets (22) stands in oil as he sets the electric pump to fill a waiter tanker.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
18/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Saïd lights a cigarette while Ezidiar (9) looks at Serdesht's (13) phone and Ghazal watches television.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
18/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Chickens roost inside a fuse box at an oil refinery.
A family of displaced Yezidis lives next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
18/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Hayam (L), Ghazal (C), and Said (C) watch television in the shipping container they call home.
A family of displaced Yezidis lives next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Ezidiar (9), Serdesht (13), and Saïd sleep on the floor of the shipping container the family calls home.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Steam from the cooling bank rises above the refinery.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Jamal (17) walks through steam at the refinery.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Jamal (17) smokes flavored tobacco from a small hookah pipe inside the utility cabin.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Azdar (16) steps out of the utility cabin to check on the machinery at the refinery.
The family of Yezidis, displaced from Sinjar, live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. The young men run the refinery 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.
19/02/15 --TANJERO, IRAQ: Jamal (17) and Azdar (16) watch as fuel oil is pumped into a storage drum at dawn.
Both boys were displaced from Sinjar by ISIS. They now live next to an oil refinery in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq which they run 24 hours a day with little to no safety equipment.