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How Syria’s Uprising Impacts Ordinary People

Kurds in Syria can’t speak their own language in schools and face many other kinds of discrimination. Here are residents of the Moqebleh camp, located near Dohuk, Kurdish Region, Iraq. Image by Reese Erlich. Iraq, 2011.

A store at Moqebleh sells vegetables and other food. Image by Reese Erlich. Iraq, 2011.

Kurds at the Moqebleh Refugee camp fled Syria in 2004-5 and still live there today. Image by Reese Erlich. Iraq, 2011.

Boys and girls sit on different sides of the same classroom at an elementary school in Dara. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

The government still provides subsidized food and other items in Syria. Here people line up at a government bakery in Tartus where they get bread at half the price of commercial stores. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

Business in the souk is almost exclusively limited to domestic trade. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

Tourism has collapsed in Syria. In the famous Damascus souk, or marketplace, businessmen like this one haven’t seen foreign customers in months. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

The souk is “a graveyard” according to one businessman. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

An afternoon rest in Tartus. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

The Syrian government claims 1,100 police and soldiers have been killed by demonstrators. The UN says over 3,000 civilians have been killed by the government. Here is the family of a slain soldier near Dara in southern Syria. Image by Reese Erlich. Syria, 2011.

Foreign reporters have largely been refused entry to Syria. Reese Erlich managed to spend a week reporting from three cities in the country. The uprising, the sharp decline in Syria’s economy and the growing bite of international sanctions are all taking their toll on ordinary Syrians. Here are his photos from Damascus, Tartus and Dara.