Millions flee as Syrian civil war enters fourth year

World Today

According to U.N. refugee agency figures, more than three million people are under the agency’s care. That is the largest refugee population worldwide under the agency’s mandate. CCTV’s Stephanie Freid reported the story of one family at Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp.

It’s a twelve kilometer walk from the border to Zaatari refugee camp . The refugees there know the distance because most of them walked it to get there.

Tens of thousands of families are now resigned to living in tents at the camp as the flee warring at home. One such family is the Efhelis. The ten children and two parents have been sharing a tent dwelling for more than two years.

Ahmed Efheli, his then-pregnant wife and nine children fled fighting in Daraa, Syria in the dead of night. They were a hundred meters from their home when it was decimated by shelling.

“I had to make a choice,” Ahmed said. “Do I stay in my home or protect my children I had to protect my family.”

Ahmed was a bricklayer in Syria, and now works odd jobs at the camp to earn extra money. The humanitarian aid of less than $300 a month is not enough to support his family.

Amidst another harsh with freezing cold winter on Jordan’s desert plain, the Efhelis have neither electricity nor heat save for a gas cylinder.

Ahmed sees no way out of the camp and no future for his children

“This is a disaster. Three of my kids aren’t in school. I want them to have a good education, but they don’t have it here,” Ahmed explained.


Children of Syrian civil war recruited as child fighters

Thousand have been killed and hurt in Syria’s continued civil war. The country’s children are often recruited as fighters. Boys and teenagers who escape tell a story of brainwashing, fear and being forced to join the battle. CCTV’s Michal Bardavid reported the story of one of these former child soldiers.