Refugees

Lebanon buckling under influx of refugees

Lebanon buckling under influx of refugees

By Jos de Vogd, CORDAID (Caritas Netherlands) After two years of fighting in Syria, the flow of refugees into neighbouring Lebanon is increasing the pressure on this small country by the day. According to recent government figures, more than a million Syrians are now in Lebanon. And every week more than 10,000 more displaced people, ...

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Escape from Syria, safe haven in Jordan

Escape from Syria, safe haven in Jordan

More than a million Syrian refugees have fled the conflict in their country. Half of them have gone to Jordan, where they mostly live side by side with Jordanians in towns and cities. They arrive with nothing, often suffering from trauma and health problems. Caritas members around the world are supporting Caritas Jordan to provide ...

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Refugee helping refugee: inspiring stories from the Syrian crisis

Refugee helping refugee: inspiring stories from the Syrian crisis

Tahani and Rahaf are both Syrian refugees who volunteer for Caritas Jordan to help their compatriots. “We had a normal life,” said Rahaf Al Jaber, a 20 year old woman from the Syrian capital Damascus. “We went to university. We had friends. We were even a little spoiled by our parents. And then suddenly we ...

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Syrian crisis through the eyes of its refugees

Syrian crisis through the eyes of its refugees

By Patrick Nicholson “Each Syrian you meet will tell you a different story; but they are all the same tragedy,” said Fawaz, a refugee who crossed into Jordan last month. Since the conflict began two years ago in Syria, its cities have been devastated, its people go hungry, living in fear, 70,000 are dead and ...

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Creative solutions to helping Malian refugees in Niger

Creative solutions to helping Malian refugees in Niger

CADEV, Caritas Niger is working in four camps helping 18,000 Malian refugees. They fled there after rebels seized the north of Mali last year, triggering a flow of refugees in Africa’s Sahel region. Caritas Niger is registering an increase of refuges since the French military intervention in January.

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Refugees in Burkina help save ecology

Refugees in Burkina help save ecology

The refugees are arriving in semi-desert areas of neighbouring countries, where populations already struggle to cope with lack of food and resources. This wave of people puts huge pressure on the local environment driven by the increased demand for firewood and pasture for livestock.

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Exodus of Syrian refugees to Jordan

Exodus of Syrian refugees to Jordan

“This is a nightmare. We will wake up soon to find ourselves in our beloved Syria,” said Ismail Ahmad Al Ajrab, a 30 year old refugee from the Syrian city of Homs. “I feel sometimes that this is all just a dream, but then the difficulties hit you and I know it is our reality ...

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Caritas on alert as Syria crisis gets worse

Caritas on alert as Syria crisis gets worse

Caritas teams in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are providing humanitarian aid to over 100,000 people affected by the escalating Syrian conflict. Caritas has launched international appeals for all four countries, which combined total €5 million. (Read: Overwhelming humanitarian crisis within Syria) Conditions for ordinary people in Syria are deteriorating rapidly with a lack of food ...

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Caritas response to crisis in Syria

Caritas response to crisis in Syria

Violence in Syria has left tens of thousands of people dead and more than 2,5 million people in need of urgent aid. Caritas teams in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are providing humanitarian aid to over 100,000 people. Caritas has launched appeals totalling 5 million Euro to help them.

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Overwhelming humanitarian crisis within Syria

Overwhelming humanitarian crisis within Syria

Under a blanket given by Caritas, a mother and child try to keep out the freezing cold temperatures and snow as they sleep out in the open in one of the parks of the Syrian capital Damascus. They are just two of 1.5 million people forced from their homes during the country’s civil war. Tens ...

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