In Pictures

Gallery|Humanitarian Crises

Syrian women and children struggle in Lebanon

New visa requirement for Syrians in Lebanon has created additional challenges for families separated by the border.

With continuing Syrian refugee arrivals in 2014, UN agencies and NGOs have been overwhelmed and are in need of additional funds for services, including psychosocial support for the most vulnerable. 
By Preethi Nallu
Published On 16 Jan 2015

“When I bid goodbye to him, tears brimming in my eyes, I thought it would be a matter of months before we saw each other,” Fatima told Al Jazeera. “Now, more than two years later, I have learned how to cope with the indefinite wait.”

Fatima, who did not provide a last name, was married for less than a year before having to part with her husband, who remains in Syria. A majority of the people who now live around her in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley – at a refugee settlement where she moved in 2012 – are women and children.

In a nearby tent, mattresses are covered with blue plastic sheets, but the tent is still imbued with the smell of recent, persistent downpours. Harsh winter storms and freezing temperatures throughout the region have claimed the lives of several people, including two young children.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who fled their country are grappling for survival in Lebanon, with no resolution in sight. And starting on January 5, Lebanon began a mandatory visa requirement for all Syrians entering the country – a measure that threatens to further sever families on different sides of the border. 

According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a global humanitarian aid organisation, the voices of female refugees have been stifled due to an increasing burden of meeting basic needs. In a recent report drawing on more than 70,000 interviews with female refugees, the IRC found a trend of “sexual exploitation and harassment, domestic violence, and early and forced marriage”. Last year, the UN refugee agency found that more than 145,000 Syrian refugee women were “fighting for survival” and caught in a spiral of poverty, isolation and fear; by the start of this year, local organisations projected that number to surpass 200,000 in Lebanon alone.

The latest humanitarian appeal for the Syrian conflict was made by UN partnering agencies on December 18, 2014, for a total of $8.4bn. It was deemed the (***)largest appeal in history(***). Lebanon, which has the largest refugee population, launched a separate appeal amid the harsh winter months, a lack of adequate shelter and food shortages.
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Experts say sexual and gender-based violence is never the first priority in emergency situations such as this. A dearth of specialised personnel to facilitate such services has been a challenge in all Syrian refugee camps.
In Lebanon, where official camps do not exist, the refugees are spread across 1,200 communities - in apartments, mosques, school buildings and tented communities - making access a greater challenge for aid workers. This slum community in Tripoli has become home to Syrian families who pay high rent to live in tin shacks often housing impoverished Lebanese. 
This mosque in Arsal started housing refugees who fled Qusayr at the end of 2012, many of whom then moved to tents across from the property. Women say that while they fled their homes in Syria due to the threat of sexual violence, they continue to be at risk on both sides of the border.
Mustafa, a 70-year-old herder who did not provide a last name, left Qusayr in 2013 with the women and children in his household. (***)Life has become impossible to endure,(***) he said, his eyes welling up. He remains in Arsal with no means to move forward or return while his sons remain on the other side of the border.
Shame and stigma associated with sexual violence in these mostly conservative communities often prevent victims from seeking help.
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NGOs and humanitarian groups have repeatedly called for an increase in funds for gender-based violence programming. 
In the absence of the male heads of households and with no viable means of income, at least 145,000 refugee women were (***)fighting for survival and caught in a spiral of poverty, isolation and fear(***), according to UN data released last year. 
This-67-year old refugee from Syria, blind in both eyes and in desperate need of surgery for a heart condition, holds her medical certificate and ID card, pleading for immediate help. She has been stranded in Lebanon since 2013.
Fatima, 22, awaits a ceasefire so she may return home. She has been living in a tent in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, having left behind her home and husband in 2012.
Ahmed, who did not provide a last name, says he wants education, a safe home and a stable future for his daughter. He is among the very few men in this camp, and says he feels (***)disempowered(***) over the lack of security for his daughters and other women in the camp.
Syrian children often hold out a peace sign when posing for the camera - a notion that has evaded their country for years.