According to the estimates of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up to 7 million Syrians are displaced within Syria; half are children.
Many of them have fled to the city of Azaz in the northwestern Syria, roughly 32 kilometers (20 miles) north-northwest of Aleppo.
a #refugee camp at the #Bab al-Salameh border crossing on #Turkey — #Syria border near Azaz town of #Aleppo! pic.twitter.com/SVEzVXtfMR
— Tamer Yazar (@tameryazar) 10 февраля 2016 г.
Daesh (Islamic State/ISIL/ISIS) made Azaz one of its main hubs from mid-2013. According to representatives of the Syrian Kurds, Islamist fighters used to cross into Syria from Turkey through Azaz. Rebel fighters used it to receive supplies from Turkey and their casualties were sent the other way to hospitals inside Turkey.
Three little angels smile towards the camera at the Babunnur refugee camp in Azaz, Syria. pic.twitter.com/PMWXjP4J82
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) 19 февраля 2016 г.
The gateway remained just that until recently, when the Kurds of northern Syria moved in.
His name is Salam. Like thousands of Syrian children, he was born in a refugee camp.
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) 20 февраля 2016 г.
Bab al-Salam camp, Azaz. pic.twitter.com/W7rKnSMkUk
“@TheSyriaPulse: #photooftheday: A girl jumps rope while playing at the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp in Azaz pic.twitter.com/CEf08gWWm9
— Damon | دامون (@DamonGolriz) 20 декабря 2014 г.
The area is home to the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp in Azaz, near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Mafraq, Jordan
In 2015, Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan celebrated its three year anniversary.
The camp was constructed in 2012 by the Government of Jordan and international agencies as part of a massive emergency response after the civil war started in 2011.
No, this isn't a city. It's Zaatari refugee camp in #Jordan housing over 80,000 Syrians. More than half are children pic.twitter.com/D2zBthqdtq
— Julie Lenarz (@MsJulieLenarz) 5 марта 2016 г.
Daily life in Zaatari: I was there today to attend #UNFPA event celebrating 5000th birth in refugee camp. Bravo! pic.twitter.com/XmvhLVdN3o
— BE Ambassador Amman (@hendrik_velde) 1 марта 2016 г.
Zaatari’s basic structure was constructed in just nine days and was initially home to just 100 families, but after exponential growth it is now home to 81,000 inhabitants, all living within its five-mile (8 kilometers) circumference.
Minister #Ploumen to visit Zaatari #refugee camp and the town of Mafraq in Jordan.https://t.co/LMdTJIAKgi pic.twitter.com/Wqz6jPdqBv
— Netherlands Embassy (@NLintheUSA) 17 февраля 2016 г.
Personal work from #Zaatari, syrian refugee camp, following the photoreport for @equaltimes https://t.co/u2hYCd4Cwb pic.twitter.com/L1bchpIKlV
— Tien Tran (@TienTranPhoto) 13 февраля 2016 г.
"The world can do better by these children," @WFPUSA 's @HunterBiden says after visiting #Zaatari refugee camp: https://t.co/tRVOIZ4g60
— WFP Students (@WFP_Students) 8 февраля 2016 г.
UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie visited the camp and met with refugees in December 2012.
#AngelinaJolie meets with refugees @ the Zaatari refugee camp #Jordan 6th Dec.Refugees increased by 200,000
— Mhّmd (@Dnk4r) 7 декабря 2012 г.
Thumbs up! pic.twitter.com/UNH7Tyky
Due to the unplanned nature of the camp’s growth, services are unevenly distributed across its vast expanse. For many residents, accessing basic amenities is a daily challenge as health and education services can be far away from where they live.
Many Syrian refugees have also crossed into Lebanon, making it home to the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.
A sweet kid I met when visiting a #syrian refugee camp in #lebanon, See the video: https://t.co/zgdSbo1kCY pic.twitter.com/X6vcedY74i
— Kriss Hampton (@KrissHampton) 10 февраля 2016 г.
Even a little marble becomes a treasure in a #Syrian #refugee camp in #Lebanon. By @Chinchere_JC for @FondazioneAVSI pic.twitter.com/gyg1qdsWjm
— AVSI-USA (@AVSIUSA) 8 февраля 2016 г.
Journalist @ImanSBS speaks with Syrian women + children at the Anout refugee camp in Lebanon https://t.co/hJI97xHaOe pic.twitter.com/xIFJcLg2i8
— SSI (@SSI_tweets) 12 января 2016 г.
Merry Christmas, from a #Syrian refugee camp in #Lebanon. Thoughts from my week back home on https://t.co/c0eJ4oF3gB pic.twitter.com/QtfG5Wh2cr
— Joelle Eid (@joelleeid) 25 декабря 2015 г.
My tour of a makeshift Syrian refugee camp in northern Lebanon: https://t.co/hYuxUZO94d #CBC #Syria #refugees pic.twitter.com/0tAepMtvJN
— Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) 24 ноября 2015 г.
Some 70 per cent of the over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon now reportedly live in extreme poverty, according to the country's standards.
About 10 percent of the Syrian refugees have fled to Europe. Many of them have landed on the island of Lesbos, Greece.
Politics Note: Greece 2015.09.07 — Lesbos: Syrian refugee camp riot… http://t.co/QyVh9oYv6P
— Robert Lee (@rboblee) 7 сентября 2015 г.
The island has received the highest number of refugee arrivals in Greece: in 2015, more than 100,000 have arrived on this island.
The majority of refugees use Lesbos as a transit point on their way to northern Europe.
Another refugee location is the Idomeni camp on Greece’s border with Macedonia. More than 5,000 people have been left stranded there since the end of February, after four Balkan countries announced a cap on refugee arrivals.
Moroccans Stuck at Idomeni Refugee Camp as Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees pass… — https://t.co/jcv6GHqKnu pic.twitter.com/XoojB8GzPH
— World News Here (@newsworldhere) 15 февраля 2016 г.
The situation is set to worsen after Serbia, Macedonia, and EU members Slovenia and Croatia said that they would restrict the number of daily arrivals to 580.
At a #refugee camp in #Athens yesterday where all but Syrian, Afghani, Iraqi refugees where bussed to from #Idomeni pic.twitter.com/ED6Zzw7Q4Y
— Hiba Zayadin (@HZayadin) 14 декабря 2015 г.
Austria also said that it would only allow 80 people a day to claim asylum, and would limit the daily number of people crossing the country to 3,200.
The move has sparked a bitter spat between Athens and Vienna, with Greece fearful it will trigger a domino effect, leaving thousands more people stranded on its territory.