Fleeing Violence and Civil War in Syria

Syrian boy standing on mattresses at
the school where his family lives.
Photo: Jamal Saidi / Reuters

As the violence escalates between brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad and the armed rebel resistance, hundreds of thousands of Syrians are fleeing their country and crossing borders into Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and other middle east nations.

It's hard to imagine the awful conditions and pervasive fear that must preclude such a mass evacuation.

What would lead people to pack up their entire families and flee their homes, with nothing ahead but the promise of poverty and hunger in hastily-erected tent cities in hostile neighboring countries?

Exodus is a heart-breaking hardship for those who flee their homelands, and a stressful and disruptive burden to the communities that must absorb them, particularly when resources may already be scarce.

This compelling Reuters photo slideshow reminds us of the real impact of civil war on a nation's people, not with graphic photos of war or violence, but with unique images of refugee life, some that capture sadness, and some that glimpse our fundamental human resilience and adaptability.