A major French company is accused of endangering its workers and indirectly financing terrorism in Syria by keeping its local cement factory open for three years after the territory fell into the hands of jihadi groups, including so called Islamic State.
We in Varen are particularly interested in this story as Lafarge, the company concerned, operated a large cimenterie here at Lexos, the closure of which in 1995 devastated local commerce and employment. The operation was moved overseas, probably to Morocco.
In Syria nine workers were kidnapped over a three year period, all being released after payment of ransoms. And when ISIL took control of the nearby oil wells Lafarge continued to by oil from them via intermediaries. It is also alleged that they paid for laissez passer documents from ISIL, allowing their cement to be carried out.
Whether these local arrangements were known by Lafarge management in Paris is unclear, but there is a feeling amongst some workers that keeping the business going, even in a war zone, was more important than the safety of the employees. The factory was finally closed in 2014.
Of course the closure in Lexos had a terrible impact on local employment, but a tremendous improvement to the environment, so few would want the factory back.
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