Lebanon - The Other Side of the Sea

The first step of the photo series from The Journey part of the Refugee Story brings you to the camps in Lebanon to show you what is happening before refugees even leave for Europe.

In the current crisis, we tend to focus all our attention on Europe, thinking this is the biggest picture. Some even ask, why don’t they go to Arabic countries?

Well, they do. In fact, there are a lot more refugees in Lebanon alone than in all of Europe since the beginning of the crisis. According to the UNHCR, the number of refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey alone total more than 2,5 millions. The proximity and the ease of reaching make these countries logical choices for neighboring Syrians but the living conditions are extremely hard. If the whole Europe is struggling to receive and provide decent support to just one million of them, these three countries are in no way able to cope economically and socially with more than twice the numbers.

All these images have been taken in Lebanon in Syrian refugee camps in the Akkar region in the North and in the Bekaa Valley in the East, both regions bordering Syria.

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Among her relatives, a little girl smiles at the camera. Around 20 families live in the camp that has been reestablished in this location for one year. Akkar District, Lebanon
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An handicapped child is left alone on his wheelchair in the middle of the field next to the refugee camps in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. He is still smiling.
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A little girl hides herself in the camp in Akkar. Most of the refugees here are Syrians, coming from the border a few kilometers up north. Akkar District, Lebanon
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This woman went through a terrible car accident days ago, losing her husband. She needs to undergo dialysis every week but is now without any mean of transportation. The volunteers and small NGOs can hardly cope with such severe cases and bigger institutions are rarely involved in the camps. Akkar District, Lebanon
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A man mourns with his family and friends as his brother was killed one day ago in Syria by a Russian airstrike. From the camp, it is possible to hear the bombs being dropped and the helicopters hovering nearby. Even on the "safe" side in Lebanon, they are still far from the horrors of the war they fled. Akkar District, Lebanon
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This camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon is mostly populated by widows. Having lost their husband to war or simply because they have left, these women are alone and particularly vulnerable. In this camp, they are together and they and their children benefit from more protection against human traffickers.
A man walks in the alleys between the houses in the camp in the Akkar District, Lebanon. Politically, the situation is extremely complicated for the refugees. The Lebanese Government does not recognize their status of refugees or even the existence of camps. Instead, they must pay a rent to occupy the land.
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Children play and wash themselves with water. As those are long term camps, running water is often installed in different ways. Sadly, the water is not always clean and diseases can spread easily. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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In most camps, a little store sells some food and basic items, making us realize how long terms these camps. They evolve in little villages. Akkar District, Lebanon
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Most tents are similar inside. Some mats on the floor and on the walls for insulation. Winter can get really cold and heat rises inside in summer. In heavy rains, water can get inside from the roof as well as from the floor. Most of the time, these installations are designed for short term but remain for many years, around five years in this case. Most of them have electricity, often television but as these are precariously installed, many fires are caused by short circuits. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
Children work in a plastic dump yard near the camps. Families need money to pay for rent, food, cloths, etc and children often work to provide revenues to the family. The available work is usually in dump yard to sort out trash and to work in the field, picking vegetables. Child prostitution is also sadly something happening a lot. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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Women carry food on their shoulders. Food sources are varied and unstable; farming, NGOs, volunteers donations, shop, etc. It's an everyday struggle for them but most manage to eat sufficiently enough. Basic food access is not the most pressing issue in the camp. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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Children run and play in the camps. Winter gets really cold in these camps that sometimes receive snow. Last year was particularly unusual in the important amount of snow received. As people are not prepared or dressed adequately, the death toll was alarmingly high. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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A child wanders around the camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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A baby sleeps on the carpet in the middle of a tent. The shawl covers him from the flies around. Akkar District, Lebanon
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A little girl waits in an alleyway in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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A child reaches inside a shelter in a camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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That really sad little girl just had a fight with her brother during the day. Normal life goes on and not all sadness comes from tragic stories. Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
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