Syria refugees multimedia series – ‘Where the war still echoes’

NAIROBI, 2 May 2013 (IRIN) - Selim and Leila were farmers in Dera'a, southwestern Syria, until the day their village was shelled by government forces and they decided to leave the country. This entailed a terrifying nighttime journey on foot through government-held territory, escorted by the Free Syrian Army. To keep the children quiet and avoid detection, they gave them sleeping pills. Many of their relatives are still stuck in Syria.

Selim, Leila and their eight children now live in Za'atari, a sprawling tented camp in Jordan, just 15km from the Syrian border, which is home to more than 110,000 refugees.

This new IRIN film series, 'Where the war still echoes', follows the family over the course of a year, from their arrival in December 2012. The series provides an intimate view of their struggles to adjust to camp life and the traumatic effects of the conflict back home, as well as the pressure felt by Selim to return and join the rebellion.