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Syrian terror haunts fleeing family

Countries
Syria
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Sources
Tearfund
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Looking around their spartan apartment in Jordan, you can see that Jalil and Adila fled Syria with virtually nothing.

Yet they arrived as refugees carrying a lot of psychological baggage which is likely to linger for a long time.

‘Terrible things happened in our streets,’ Jalil told Tearfund.

‘With my own eyes, I saw people planting bombs in cars and women being raped in the street. I couldn’t let my wife and children live there any longer.

‘Now we live in a bare room with nothing from our past except for our children’s school certificates.’

The family had tried staying in Syria because they knew that to leave would be difficult for them. Jalil has major kidney and bladder illnesses and needs medication and regular treatment, so wanted to stay close to home.

But when their house was bombarded a month ago, they knew it was time to go.

Medical needs

Jalil and Adila brought their daughter Basmah, aged seven, and their sons Talib, six, and Mohamed, five, to Jordan and at first they went to a large refugee camp where 75,000 refugees live in tents.

They weren’t able to stay there long because little Mohamed became so sick that he was turning blue, and they couldn’t get the medical help they needed.

They wandered from place to place, trying to find somewhere safe to stay. They even slept in the street until a kind Jordanian woman saw them and took them to a hotel, paying for them to stay there for two nights.

Eventually, they were found by a local charity which is supported by Tearfund partner Medair which found them this flat to rent.

Slowly, they are starting to rebuild their lives but they still face many challenges.

‘My little boy is suffering from shock and sometimes he walks in his sleep,’ says mum Adila.

‘The children are always afraid and get scared whenever they hear a plane take off. We are not totally living at ease.’

The family want to return to Syria: ‘Going back to our homeland is the dream of everyone,’ says Jalil. ‘No-one wants to stay outside their homeland. I want to go back, but only when it’s safe, especially for the kids.’

  • Names have been changed to protect identities