“Every child deals with the conflict in his or her own way. But when it came to this question, I kept hearing the same things: family, playing, toys, and most of all, school. The majority of Syrian refugee children are not able to attend school…”
An Australian documentary follows the daily lives of some of the Syrian refugees now living in a sprawling Za’atari refugee camp on the Jordanian border. Here’s how they describe it:
It’s been described as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time, the greatest refugee crisis since World War II. Since erupting two and a half years ago, the war in Syria has claimed some 100,000 lives and caused an exodus to a scale not seen in decades. So far, millions of Syrians have been displaced and poured into neighbouring countries to live in makeshift camps under extremely harsh conditions. Za’atari is such a place. Rough, dusty, barren, the refugee camp, located on the border of Syria and Jordan is fast growing into a metropolis and now accommodates around 120,000 people. For the families struggling to survive the conditions of the desert camp – what is daily life like for them? This diary takes you right inside the refugee camp. Over the next four weeks, our crew will immerse themselves in Za’atari, giving you unprecedented insight into the lives of three refugees who agreed to share their stories – stories of resourcefulness, ingenuity and resilience in the most extraordinary circumstances.
Reporter/photographer Will Wintercross has an excellent photo gallery of pictures from the Za’atari refugee camp, which houses thousands of refugees from Syria.
A number of other groups are helping to support the children of Syria. They include:
Mercy Corps
Doctors Without Borders
Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations
Syrian British Medical Society
Karam Foundation
Hand in Hand for Syria
War Child International
Doctors of the World UK
The Huffington Post shared a compelling photo essay about Syrian refugees. See all the photos now.
The Syrian Medical Centre, also known as Dar al-Istshfaa, is a refuge for those wounded in Syria requiring long-term care and rehabilitation. The centre, which has been running for more than a year, was founded by the Paris-based Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations (UOSSM), a coalition of 14 independent medical and relief organisations.
This National Public Radio story (21 October 2013) talks about the psychological and physical impact of the war in Syria on its children.
See the story, and listen to a stream of the radio broadcast.
Palmyra Relief 