TURKEY: Syrian widow takes care of her seven children in a camp as she mourns for her husband, who was tortured and killed in the conflict in her homeland

Record ID: 276435

  • Title: TURKEY: Syrian widow takes care of her seven children in a camp as she mourns for her husband, who was tortured and killed in the conflict in her homeland
  • Date: 28th September 2012
  • Summary: YAYLADAGI, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 25, 2012) (REUTERS) VIEW OF YAYLADAGI REFUGEE CAMP VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN PLAYGROUND SYRIAN REFUGEE SABAH WATCHING HER CHILDREN AT PLAYGROUND MORE OF CHILDREN PLAYING SYRIAN REFUGEE SABAH HANGING OUT THE LAUNDRY VARIOUS OF SABAH HAVING LUNCH WITH HER CHILDREN AND OTHER REFUGEES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN REFUGEE SABAH SAYING: "
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1WEOQQRYPR8YUP22E1YS2795A
  • Story Text: A Syrian widow who has fled to Yayladagi refugee camp in Turkey after her husband was killed in the Syrian conflict is struggling to look after her seven children in a makeshift tent.
    Sabah says she fled to Turkey with her children shortly after her husband was tortured and killed in Syria after being detained for attending peaceful protests against the regime.
    "My husband died because he was involved in peaceful protests. We came to Turkey two months after he died. Thanks be to God, we don't need anyone. We just need God and we will need God more when we return to Syria. But the most important thing is to get rid of this regime. I hope our children will not experience what we have gone through," she said.
    Sabah says her children miss their father.
    "The children are asking about their father every day. He was a caring father. They remember the happy days they had with him. They remember him bringing food to home and they cry when they think of him," Sabah says.
    Sabah's oldest daughter, Dunya, who is 15 years old, is in mourning for the loss of her father.
    "He (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) took our father from us. He even deprived us of the right to bury him properly and of visiting him at a proper cemetery. I wish one day God will take the most precious thing from him and I wish he will feel the pain of his loss," she says.
    Bombardment and heavier fighting between government forces and militants is forcing Syrians to flee hot spots across the country.
    Up to 700,000 Syrian refugees may flee abroad by the end of the year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) relief agency said on Thursday (September 27), nearly quadrupling its previous forecast for the exodus from the deepening crisis.
    Most faced what was likely to be a bitterly cold winter living in tents with little prospect of returning to their homeland, it said.
    The agency urged Western donors to help raise nearly 500 million U.S. dollars to finance aid operations in four neighbouring countries that have kept their borders open so far.
    In all, 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have already fled to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, according to the UNHCR, but only some 300,000 have signed up for protection and assistance so far.
    The UNHCR's previous forecast - of 185,000 refugees - was surpassed in August. It had been made in June.
    The surge has overwhelmed aid workers as 15,000 to 20,000 refugees now arrive each week, needing basic services including shelter, latrines, food, clean water and health care.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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