The Syrian refugee crisis is the largest refugee and displacement crisis of our time, affecting 17.6 million people. Let’s break this topic down — in photos and videos.

Since the Syrian civil war officially began March 15, 2011, families have suffered under ongoing brutal conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, torn the nation apart, and set back the standard of living by decades.
Some 900,000 people in northwest Syria have been displaced by conflict since Dec. 1, 2019.

Extreme cold is making life even harder, especially for children.

For many Syrian children, all they have known is war.
We’re approaching the ninth anniversary of the Syrian refugee crisis on March 15, 2020.

Still, about 5.6 million Syrians are refugees.

The majority of Syria’s 5.6 million refugees have fled — by land and sea — across borders to neighboring countries but remain in the Middle East.

June 20 is the United Nations-sanctioned World Refugee Day, a time to show the world that we stand with refugees.

But Syrians deserve to be remembered every day of the year.

Another 6.2 million people are displaced within Syria.

Nearly 12 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance.

At least half of the people affected by the Syrian refugee crisis are children.

World Vision has been working in the Middle East for nearly 40 years.

Since the Syrian refugee crisis began, World Vision staff have helped more than 2.5 million people in the region.

In Syria, we’re providing healthcare, emergency food, shelter repair kits, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. We’re also operating Child-Friendly Spaces and child protection training.


In Iraq, we’re providing food aid, health services, water and sanitation, and livelihood training. Children receive education, recreation, and programs in life skills, peacebuilding, and resilience.

