A new U.N. report reveals that more than 100,000 people have been killed during the three-year conflict in Syria, including at least 10,000 children.
Refugee children who have fled Syria for neighboring countries have been recruited for use as human shields and have been subjected to alarming treatment including:
[B]eatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives
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Learn how to support the efforts of the U.N. and other organizations which are working to protect Syrian refugees, below.
UNHCR
The U.N. refugee agency is leading the Syrian refugee response. The organization has camps in Jordan and continues to offer humanitarian assistance in neighboring Lebanon and Iraq. With thousands fleeing Syria every day, the organization is working to keep up. The site offers multiple ways to take action:
Subscribe to the UNHCR newsletter to keep up to date.
And learn more here.
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps has been working in Syria since 2008. Now, with the escalating humanitarian crisis, the organization is responding to the needs of refugees in camps in Lebanon and Jordan by increasing access to clean water and providing psychological support for children. Learn more here.
International Red Cross
The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are working together to feed the millions of Syrian refugees, provide medical care to those in need and war-surgery training to doctors treating casualties in neighboring Lebanon. Learn more here.
Save the Children
In response to the humanitarian crisis and plummeting temperatures, Save the Children is providing children with warm blankets, clothes, shoes and winter-aid packages for infants. Learn more here.