Reyhanlı, Turkey. An entire extended family and some family friends share one house, donated to them by a local Turkish councillor. 

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Hacipaşa, Turkey. Refugees erecting tents and covers in a warehouse space. Hacipasa is separated from Syria by the Orontes river, a route regularly used for smuggling people and supplies to and from Syria. 

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The United Nations Refugee Agency, the UNHCR estimates that more than 10 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes, almost half of Syria's pre-war population. Official figures put the death toll at a figure exceeding 250,000 people. 


A war between states is being played out within the border fences of a single country, increasingly sectarian and incomprehensibly brutal. 


The international community seems unable and unwilling to step in, as neighbouring nations are slowly drawn into or affected by the violence, beginning to engulf the entire region and beyond.


Thousands spend their nights in darkness; in fields, tents and abandoned homes without electricity, adequate food and water or warmth, or means of communication. NGOs do their best to improve sanitary and medical facilities, but the population increases each day, bringing new challenges. 


With the recent mass migration to Europe, which included a high percentage of Syrian citizens it's easy for forget that often the most vulnerable are the Syrians that remain in Syria, or in one of the endless formal and informal camps in neighbouring countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.  

02/12/2012 Atmeh refugee camp, for internally displaced Syrians. Around 12,000 IDP now live in the camp. Atmeh, Syria.

Atmeh IDP camp, close to Syria's border with Turkey. 

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Without electricity, running water, and with little food or blankets, thousands of Syrian families live in Atmeh camp for internally displaced persons (IDP's).

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Reyhanlı refugee camp, Turkey. The camp was one of the first to host waves of people seeking shelter outside Syria, but has since been closed and it's almost three thousand residents moved onto larger refugee camps in Turkey.

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Syrian refugees cross into Turkey fleeing clashes between Kurdish and Islamist forces in the town of Kobani in Syria

Syrians from the town of Ayn al-Arab (known in Kurdish as Kobane) rush into Turkey at unofficial crossing points opened by the Turkish authorities on 24th September 2014, as Islamic State militants surround the town and battle with Kurdish forces. 

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Children play football in the displacement camp in Atmeh, on Syria's border with Turkey. Around 12,000 IDP now live in the camp. December 2nd 2012, Atmeh, Syria.

Children playing football in the Atmeh IDP camp, Syria.

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Syrian Kurdish refugees wait to return to their native Kobani, but Turkish authorities prevent them for some time at the Mürşitpınar border crossing in Şanlıurfa province, southern Turkey.

Syrian Kurds from the town of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane in Kurdish) are prevented from returning to Syria from Turkey at Mürşitpınar border crossing. Some of the men intend to join the Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic State militants besieging their town, others want to return to secure their homes and belongings or bring relatives to Turkey. 24th September 2014. 

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A boy sells food items at a temporary shop in Atmeh camp for around 12,000 IDP in north western Syria. 02/01/2013

Atmeh IDP camp on Syria's border with Turkey.

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02/12/2012 The silhouette of a Syrian woman outside a medical tent in Atmeh camp for IDP Syrians.  Around 12,000 IDP now live in the camp. December 2nd 2012, Atmeh, Syria.

A Syrian woman waits outside a tent being used as a makeshift hospital and clinic in Atmeh IDP camp, Syria. 

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Yayladağı, Turkey. Smoking a nargila in one of the first refugee camps for Syrians escaping violence into southern Turkey. 

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A mother rubs the feet of her 8 year old daughter, paralysed by a sniper bullet. She remains hopeful that by rubbing and massaging her daughters' feet, she will regain some feeling. 

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Newly arrived Syrian refugees from the town of Ayn al-Arab / Kobane are greeted on the Turkish side of the border by aid organisations, where they receive vaccinations and a brief medical check before being taken to temporary shelter nearby.

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Syrians Kurdish men watch smoke coming from their hometown of Kobane/Ayn al-Arab (background right) from the Turkish side of the border near Suruç.

Men from the town of Ayn al-Arab (known in Kurdish as Kobane) in northern Syria, seen in the rear right of the image, watch as smoke appears from the town. The men are three of an estimated 130,000 Syrians that crossed into Turkey within only a few days in late September 2014 after Islamic State militants encircled their hometown. Outside of Suruç, Şanlıurfa province, southern Turkey.

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An injured Syrian patient received medical treament from a nurse, in a post-care centre for Syrians in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli. 04/01/2013

Rehabilitation centre for injured Syrians in Reyhanlı, Southern Turkey.

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A Syrian family from Idlib province sit in their tent in Islahiye refugee camp, southern Turkey. 02/01/2013

Islahiye refugee camp for Syrians in southern Turkey.

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Azraq refugee camp, northern Jordan. Syrian customers at the Samah supermarket pay for their shopping using their iris. The WFP provides money to Syrians in Jordan, and they can only access and spend this money by having their eyes scanned and using their iris/eyes to pay at certain ATMs and markets. 

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Blinded by shrapnel, relatives and doctors check for any improvement. A rehabilitation centre in Reyhanlı, Turkey.  

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Syrian children play games between the tents at Islahiye refugee camp, southern Turkey. 02/01/2013

Islayhie refugee camp, Turkey

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Mohammed is 15 years old and spent two years serving coffee in a small café in Amman in addition to hauling sacks of sugar. He says he worked 15 hours a day for a wage of just two-and-a-half dinars, the equivalent of only 3.17 euros.

"I did it for my family," he says. His father had suffered a heart attack and he is the oldest of four siblings. Now, though, Mohammed has been able to go back to school thanks to assistance from an aid organisation.

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An injured Syrian man is taken to hospital from a rehabilitation centre for Syrians, in the Turkish border town of Reyhanlı.

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As the conflict continues year after year, the Syrian civilians are the ones paying the personal price. 



Displaced internally and still at risk of air strikes, or in a camp in one of the Syria's neighbouring states, conditions are often unsustainable and lack security.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have made the journey to Europe recently, with aspirations of a new life, more opportunity and safety. 




An elderly woman cries as she hears news of recent attacks by the Syrian military in her hometown, where her daughter and grandchildren are still trying to flee to Turkey. Reyhanli refugee camp, Turkey. March 2012

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An injured Free Syrian Army (FSA) soldier sits in hospital in Antakya, Turkey, where he is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds near Lattakia, Syria. 12/06/2012
An injured Free Syrian Army (FSA) soldier sits in hospital in Antakya, Turkey, where he is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds near Lattakia, Syria. 12/06/2012
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A mother brings her 20 day old baby to see a doctor, in a camp set up for displaced people in Atmeh. Around 12,000 IDP now live in the camp. December 2nd 2012, Atmeh, Syria. Bradley Secker for Helsingin Sanomat

Born into an IDP camp with no running water, no electricity, few doctors, an ever growing population, and still at risk from air strikes. Atmeh, Syria. 

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Syrian journalists and activists sleeping in a makeshift media centre in Reyhanli, a Turkish border town, a few kilometres from the Syrian border. The apartment is used as a base for editing, uploading, and resting between assignments in northern Syria

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Malik Khaled stands infront of a group of Syrians injured by the ongoing conflict participate in a lesson on how to move and use wheelchairs. Reyhanli, Turkey 01/12/2013 Bradley Secker for the Washington Post

Malik Khaled stands in front of a group of Syrians injured by the ongoing conflict participate in a lesson on how to move and use wheelchairs. Reyhanli, Turkey

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Syrian-Kurdish refugees crossing into Turkey from Ayn-al-Arab / Kobane, in trucks under the watch of the Turkish Jandarma, as ISIS militants took control over the border town. 2014

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Rita wades through the flooded refugee camp to get to her tent. Yayladagi refugee camp for Syrians in southern Turkey. 12/21/2012 Bradley Secker for the Washington Post

Yayladağı refugee camp for Syrians in Turkey. Flooded tents and bad weather conditions worsen the situation for already worn spirits. 

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Villagers in Adthar, Idlib discuss the security problems in their area. 18/11/2012. Adthar, Idlib, Syria

Discussing the situation and the future in an opposition controlled area. Adthar, Idlib, Syria. 

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Bara'a kissed her younger cousin under rainy skies at Yayladagi refugee camp for Syrians in southern Turkey. 12/21/2012 Bradley Secker for the Washington Post

Siblings. Yayladağı refugee camp, Turkey

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Syrian girls play in Atmeh refugee camp, for internally displaced Syrians. Around 12,000 IDP now live in the camp. December 2nd 2012, Atmeh, Syria.

Syrian children living in Atmeh IDP camp, Idlib province, north-western Syria. 

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Amina Ghazal from Taftanaz, Idlib province of Syria, cries as the talks about her son killed and home lost in Syria. Islahiye camp, Turkey. 02/01/2013

Lost children. Islahiye refugee camp, Turkey. 

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