No doubt many of these unfortunate refugees will not be able to return to their country even when this is over, just like the displaced persons after World War II never were able to go back.
'1.2 million refugees fled Syria to Lebanon... what kills you is the lack of hope in their eyes'
Declan Whooley Twitter
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PUBLISHED13/03/2015 | 02:30
OPEN GALLERY 1
Ireland and Munster star Donncha O'Callaghan with a child at the UNICEF camp
Maher doesn't fit the conventional refugee image. The 24-year-old Syrian is well dressed and employed. But he is part of what Unicef has described as the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
Maher is one of the estimated eight million Syrians who have been displaced since the war broke out in his homeland four years ago.
His life in Homs, along with his home and the city itself, has been destroyed, with family and friends scattered among settlement camps in neighbouring countries. In April 2012, the recently graduated teacher was forced to flee, joining other family members among the 600 refugees in the informal settlement in Anjar on the Syria/Lebanon border.
Cramped living conditions, informal and limited education, alarming sanitation, over-worked health services and poor nutrition are some of the major obstacles that must be overcome on a daily basis. Anjar is deemed to be one of the better equipped camps, yet it's a far cry from his middle class background that was snatched away.
Read More: Syria – A four-year war defined by brutal violence and mass slaughter
In the settlement Maher works as an Arabic teacher, but still harbours ambitions of returning to his war-stricken country. It is what keeps him and his students going. "We have to have hope that we will return, for the children," he says. "I have to believe I will return so that the children also believe." Maher's current situation is a common one among the 1,600 settlements dotted around the country. In sharp contrast to their surroundings and grotesque levels of sanitation, many here do not lack for technology. The little contact he maintains with distant friends is through WhatsApp.
Continue reading at:
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/12-million-refugees-fled-syria-
'1.2 million refugees fled Syria to Lebanon... what kills you is the lack of hope in their eyes'
Declan Whooley Twitter
PUBLISHED13/03/2015 | 02:30
Ireland and Munster star Donncha O'Callaghan with a child at the UNICEF camp
Maher doesn't fit the conventional refugee image. The 24-year-old Syrian is well dressed and employed. But he is part of what Unicef has described as the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
Maher is one of the estimated eight million Syrians who have been displaced since the war broke out in his homeland four years ago.
His life in Homs, along with his home and the city itself, has been destroyed, with family and friends scattered among settlement camps in neighbouring countries. In April 2012, the recently graduated teacher was forced to flee, joining other family members among the 600 refugees in the informal settlement in Anjar on the Syria/Lebanon border.
Cramped living conditions, informal and limited education, alarming sanitation, over-worked health services and poor nutrition are some of the major obstacles that must be overcome on a daily basis. Anjar is deemed to be one of the better equipped camps, yet it's a far cry from his middle class background that was snatched away.
Read More: Syria – A four-year war defined by brutal violence and mass slaughter
In the settlement Maher works as an Arabic teacher, but still harbours ambitions of returning to his war-stricken country. It is what keeps him and his students going. "We have to have hope that we will return, for the children," he says. "I have to believe I will return so that the children also believe." Maher's current situation is a common one among the 1,600 settlements dotted around the country. In sharp contrast to their surroundings and grotesque levels of sanitation, many here do not lack for technology. The little contact he maintains with distant friends is through WhatsApp.
Continue reading at:
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/12-million-refugees-fled-syria-
