Today, Sunday, the former member in Commission for Human Rights warned of environmental pollution resulting from emissions of oil extraction, while noting that the Basra governorate records from 700 cases of cancer and leukemia cases per month to 2000 annually as a result of pollution.

Former commission member Ali al-Bayati said in an interview with Alsumaria News, “Official reports confirm the recoding of 700 cases per month to 2000 cases annually of cancerous diseases in Basra Governorate specifically, as a result of pollution, war remnants, and oil extraction expeditions.”

Al-Bayati added, “Local laws set a distance of no less than 10 km between oil extraction operations and the residential areas or citizens,” pointing out that “some residents are only 250 meters away from the oil fields, which is one of the main reasons for the high incidence of tumor diseases and leukemia.” .

He indicated that “government agencies are only interested in making profits and extracting oil at the expense of citizens and residential areas,” noting that “the Ministry of Health warns and the Ministry of Oil denies, and the conflict remains governmental while the citizen is the victim.”

Al-Bayati called for respecting the Ministry of Health and its warnings reports regarding the oil file and its extraction near the citizens, while he made it clear that most extraction companies do not adhere to the standards as a result of the absence of deterrent penalties.

The commission member called on the concerned authorities to impose huge penalties on companies that violate extraction standards, to provide compensation to those affected, and to use modern methods of oil extraction that reduce toxic emissions.

The article in the source