Alaa fled to Germany at 16, after her brother was disappeared by Syrian government forces. She hoped to bring her parents later, but her reunification request was denied. She has not seen her parents for seven years, and has never met her six-year-old brother.
Mayada fled to Sweden in 2015 and applied for family reunification with her two sons, Rabieh and Adeeb. Rabieh was accepted, but Adeeb turned 18 during the process and was rejected. She has not seen him for eight years.
“Distance,” an upcoming podcast by Syria Direct, offers an intimate portrayal of the pain and rage of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters caught in a bureaucratic nightmare after their family reunification requests were rejected by European migration authorities.
Residents of al-Tah camp, an informal settlement named for the south Idlib village its residents fled, have lived without electricity for four years. Solar panels are too expensive, and diesel generators are a fire hazard.
Makeshift oil refineries endanger the health of workers and local communities in northwestern Syria. But their environmental impact, often overlooked, will also affect generations to come.
Two workers at a makeshift oil refinery in Tarhin speak about their job, the hardships they endure and the dreams they hold for the future.
Under pressure from Lebanon’s economic crisis, 500 Syrian families in the past year have requested permits from the Arsal municipality to move from houses or apartments to informal tent settlements.
Since Bashar al-Assad issued an amnesty for terrorism charges on April 30, more than 200 detainees have been released. Hundreds of Syrians gathered in Damascus and elsewhere this week, hoping their loved ones are next.
Until justice is achieved, Syrian women continue their battle through documentation, says Mashaan, as it takes on legal significance “in accountability, and human significance in preserving memory.”
Due to Lebanon’s collapsing economy and restrictions on building permanent structures, Syrian refugees are facing an especially difficult winter in wood and plastic tents.
