Middle East & North Africa

Escaping bullets and bombs in Syria

Escaping bullets and bombs in Syria

As Syria refugees pour into Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon, Caritas is giving them food, medical care, and emergency aid. Ilham, a mother of five, described a harrowing day in her home city to Caritas Communications Officer Laura Sheahen. I have nothing to do with the military, I am a civilian. We’re from Bab Amr, in ...

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Aid worker’s diary: Syrian refugees

Aid worker’s diary: Syrian refugees

Available in French and Spanish In Lebanon and Jordan, Caritas is helping thousands of refugees who have fled Syria. Communications Officer Laura Sheahen describes four days of visits to Caritas centres where refugees receive food, medical care, and more. Monday morning: Visit Syrian refugees squeezed into tiny apartments in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The ...

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Fleeing Syria: refugee parents tell their stories

Fleeing Syria: refugee parents tell their stories

Available in French By Laura Sheahen, Caritas Communications Officer “We’d move from neighbour to neighbour to escape the bombing,” says Ahmed, a father of six from the Syrian city of Homs. As civil war in his country escalated, he watched buildings bombarded and people injured or killed. “There came a moment when I looked at ...

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Mobile clinic visits Syrian refugee children

Mobile clinic visits Syrian refugee children

Available in French Tens of thousands of people have fled Syria to escape bombardments and shooting. Now living in cramped, unsanitary conditions in neighbouring countries, some refugees are falling ill. Doctor Simon Kolanjian is a pediatrician who travels in a Caritas Lebanon mobile clinic to treat refugee children. He spoke with Caritas Communications Officer Laura ...

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Syrian child refugees face poverty in Lebanon

Syrian child refugees face poverty in Lebanon

Available in French By Laura Sheahen, Caritas Communications Officer A black pupil within azure and indigo swirls, the ‘ayn’ is supposed to ward off envy and the evil eye. These round, blue glass objects are ubiquitous in the Middle East. It’s hard to imagine who would envy the three bedraggled children I’m talking to in ...

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Syrian refugee crisis: a ‘human flood’ into Lebanon

Syrian refugee crisis: a ‘human flood’ into Lebanon

Since 2011, violence in Syria has forced thousands of people from their homes. In mid-July 2012, the conflict worsened rapidly and a huge wave of refugees poured into Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. On July 24, Father Simon Faddoul, the head of Caritas Lebanon, spoke with Caritas Internationalis about the plight of the new refugees in ...

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As Syrian refugee crisis grows, Caritas aids families in Lebanon and Jordan

As Syrian refugee crisis grows, Caritas aids families in Lebanon and Jordan

As violence in Syria worsens, Caritas continues to aid refugees as they stream into the neighbouring countries of Jordan and Lebanon. In Jordan, Caritas is distributing food and essential items like diapers to hundreds of Syrian families in Mafraq and Zarqa. Caritas Jordan also arranged a free one-week medical campaign for Syrian refugees to provide ...

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