The plight of Syrian refugees has vividly resurfaced in the international media with images of makeshift shelters in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and reports of refugee children living in sub-zero temperatures, without heat, clothes, food or water, some actually dying from the cold.
They are among the 3.2 million Syrians who have fled the conflict so far; the United Nations estimates that a further 7.6 million people are displaced within the country.
They join a rapidly increasing mass of people – between 50 and 60 million, over half under 18 years old – forcibly displaced by conflict, sudden disasters and gradual environmental change. More than half are displaced within their countries – 3 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone.
