Refugees' lives in the balance

"I met this girl from Dara’a, Syria, in the intensive care unit of an MSF-run hospital in Al Ramtha, Jordan. A barrel bomb pulverized her house and deprived her of a big part of her family in an instant. With a body full of shrapnel and a serious head injury, the only option for her mother was to try to cross the border to Jordan since there are no more neurosurgeons left in her home country."

"To survive the food shortage in Syria, many grow their own vegetables. This farmer was hit by a secondary barrel bomb after answering a call for help of a farmer hit by a missile just moments before on the adjacent plot of land. He says this tactic is used by the Assad regime to maximize the number of victims and to demoralize people by being forced to passively watch the suffering of others."

"The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, with population of 80 000, is gradually turning into a city, albeit an imperfect one. Water, electricity, and sanitation services are hard to come by since the Jordanian government does not wish for the settlement to become permanent. The weather makes the lives of Syrians challenging to say the least."

"Valerio and Kevin both inherited their parents’ statelessness due to bureaucracy and requirements that refugees are simply unable to meet. They live with their family in a gypsy camp on the outskirts of Rome in a small mobile home. Even a simple act such as walking his children to school can spell prison and possible deportation for Ramadan, their father."

"She variously stared out of the window and at her toys for the better part of my stay in her hospital room in Al Ramtha, Jordan. I was told her head injuries were severe and there was little hope she would be self-sufficient in adult life. The doctors said that she was most likely replaying the traumatic experience from Syria that had led to her injury over and over in her head."

"The consequences of the Darfur war, which broke out in 2003, are still visible in neighboring countries. These children attend a Jesuit Refugee Service-funded school in the deep desert of eastern Chad. They were born here and spent their whole lives in a country that is both resource-constrained and reluctant to integrate these children into society."

"The time refugees spend in camps is 17 years on average, according to the UNHCR. That means most of their childhood. Many children in eastern Chad need to start thinking about getting food from as young as the age of six. Food and water insecurity in refugee camps all over the world are currently creating whole generations of people with only basic formation and skills."

"Shayma has three children and worries that her family’s life will never return to normal. She used to be a housewife and helped her husband on their plot of farmland. She says she doesn't understand why people started fighting - they had enough food and water and were able to go to school before the war. Now they live in a caravan and have to live off a nutritionally insufficient diet."