Caught in the Crossfire

Refugee Story at Syria

As bombs fell around her home in Syria, Yemen ran to the kitchen in terror searching for her mother, Dayane. In her panic she ran straight into the stove, spilling a pot of boiling water down her front. With most of her body burned, Dayane rushed her to a nearby field hospital. Six days later she carried her to Lebanon.

“She is very traumatised. She is afraid of everybody and is always crying from pain,” her mother told UNHCR staff during their home visit.

Although Yemen survived, her journey is just beginning. She will need several operations to allow her damaged skin to stretch as best it can to accommodate her growing body.

“She needs plastic surgery to graft skin from her body,” says Dayane. “She still has a long way to go.”

The war in Syria has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people. At least two million have been wounded in the conflict.

Many of the people affected are children, like Yemen. Their parents, often also injured themselves, are left to pick up the pieces and try to restart their lives while caring for a sick child.

These survivors live with a permanent reminder of the horrors they have endured—injuries including anything from lost limbs and blindness through to burns and paralysis. Depression, anxiety and other emotional and psychological trauma are also common.

UNHCR and its partners provide the most vulnerable with much-needed medical care and cash assistance to help them adjust to their new reality.

Learn how UNHCR is helping displaced Syrians

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