Home BusinessSociety Out in the cold


Out in the cold

Syrian refugees face freezing weather as winter hits

by Sam Tarling
This makeshift tented community in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley has become home to some 150 families who have fled the conflict in neighboring Syria. The families here live with little protection from the elements in homes made of plastic sheeting and scavenged materials [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Despite the cold already setting in, many of the children at this camp still lack proper winter clothes and footwear to adequately protect them. More than 300,000 registered refugees have fled the conflict in Syria to neighboring countries [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
A child runs through the mud at the camp [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Abdulla, 5, has only sandals to protect his feet. "I want a blanket and I want a carpet," he said, fingers and toes chapped from exposure to the cold [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Roughly constructed, tented homes provide little protection from the cold or the rain [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
The settlement is far more crowded than it was earlier in the year and, with no end to the Syrian civil war in sight, will likely become more so in the coming months, further compounding problems the residents face such as lack of running water and adequate drainage [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
The children and their families living in the camp rely on donors and the UN [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
In Wadi Khaled, North Lebanon, the situation is little better. With just a blanket to cover the windows of the room in which she now lives, Khadiji, 5, and her family face a bitterly cold winter [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Unfinished and unfurnished, these rooms make for Spartan shelters for families. Fatmeh, 50, (right) said: "We only have seven blankets for nine people, including one I had to borrow from my neighbor" [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Mona, 16, holds Malak, her five-month-old baby, in the bare concrete room in which she lives. She said "we are using thin blankets to cover the windows but it is very cold at night" [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Eight year-old Fatma shivers as she sits on the concrete floor [Photo: Sam Tarling/Save The Children/Executive]
Support our fight for economic liberty &
the freedom of the entrepreneurial mind
DONATE NOW

Sam Tarling

Sam Tarling was Executive's photographer from 2010 until January 2014. During that period he covered conflicts across the Middle East.
--------------------------------------


View all posts by

You may also like