When has the world become too small for me?

Displacement tents are burning left and right in Syria, but does anyone smell the toxic fumes radiating out of their so-called safety and stability? Despite their rough shape, these tents are an oasis for 6.8 million survivors who escaped torment and conflict.

However, living in small tents wasn’t their reality, these people had homes they worked tirelessly for. Only destiny had decided to turn the ship back around.

Many displaced Syrians were forced to restart their lives multiple times and build it from the ground up. Living in tents was their next step. And just when they thought they could inhale a fresh of breath air, it was soon mixed with toxic fumes ushering yet another forced new beginning.

Is this their destiny? Are these remarks falling on deaf ears?

They are not, we are calling out the inhumane living standards Syrians are having to accept after being forced out of their homes due to the Syrian conflict.

World Vision Syria Response does not turn a blind eye.

An Issue on the Rise

Tents burning down and collapsing across Syrian displacement camps is an alarming issue on the rise. This could be for various reasons, storms, lack of maintenance, their prone nature to weathering with time and inability to face challenging weather conditions. Reasons may and will vary but only lead to one result, yet another loss for internally displaced Syrians and perhaps another relocation.

Another issue is the lack of a database tracking the number of tents burned in displacement camps. This speaks volumes of how unnoticed this problem is. A simple and quick Google search will raise anyone’s awareness.

Behind these stories are people who lost their belongings they carried with them for miles under the raid of bombs and shelling. Simple yet personally valuable items holding immense emotional value to their owners knowing it is all they have left. Not only they have lost tangible items, but many of them were psychologically harmed and scarred, some even passed away.

These are not isolated incidents; these are domino effects of a larger protracted crisis the Syrians have been living in since 2011. Losing a house, finding one, losing it again and who knows what will happen next.

Syria crisis is unfolding right in front of our eyes.

12-year-old Qamar* knows what happens next too well

Despite her young age, Qamar learned how unfair life could be. She lost her home twice. The first time, it was by the Syria- Türkiye Earthquake. “Our home was shattered, the wall crumbled down and we feared for our lives, so we had to leave and our uncle welcomed us. We stayed there for a while,” she recalls.

This is too real for Qamar, as she travels back to 6 February 2023, images of the destruction, of their previous home occupy her psyche. But like all other Syrians who lost their homes, her uncle could only welcome them to a small tent, “we are three siblings, and my parents… and we stayed and their tent too”.

After a while, Qamar’s family were able to secure their own tent finally inhaling some breath of stability and autonomy. During that time, Qamar enrolled in school and began finding her passion, “my favourite subject in school is math and I want to be a teacher when I grow up,” she hopes. But one day their peace was cut short.

It is All Burning Down

“One day my mother was feeding my younger brother. My other siblings were asleep. During that time, there was a gas leak,” she recalls.

Qamar does not recall smelling the gas being leaked which is alarming and proves how easy for fire to break out in the tent endangering innocent lives. Meanwhile, a small flame was being ignited three meters away from the family inside the tent, “a battery was soon burning and a bag of fertilizer. Then a group of people helped us out before the gas cylinder exploded,” she narrates.

After that, “everything began burning down,”

Right before her eyes, Qamar saw her entire life shatter yet again and she was helpless. “There was nothing left, our clothes, everything was gone after the fire department put out the fire. “me, my siblings, father and mother, we lost everything”.

After this traumatic incident, Qamar’s biggest hope is to have another tent to live along with her family. This is the only wish she could think of in this situation.

Knowing what Qamar and her family went through, World Vision Syria Response, immediately mobilised their teams to support. They provided her with a comfortable tent and invited Qamar to replace the clothes she lost after the fire.

Meanwhile, Qamar was at the shopping centre, and colleagues from World Vision Syria Response were already starting to assemble the tent for Qamar and her family. After which, she joined to witness the process.

Story Does Not End with A Tent and Clothes

Qamar has been through an emotionally draining journey. Losing everything she ever had right in front of her not only once but three times from displacement to the earthquake to the tent burning down took a huge toll on her.

Therefore, it was crucial for Qamar’s well-being to enroll her in psychological support groups at World Vision Syria Response Centre. Knowing she is already enrolled in the education programme that would make Qamar more comfortable with her surroundings and environment.

Integrating Qamar with children her age, participating in social activities and emotional support exercises will build and strengthen her resilience even more. Qamar is currently working towards fulfilling her education and overcoming the hardships she lived through.

Thanks to funding from the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF), Qamar now has a new shelter and wardrobe. She is also enrolled in an integrated psychological and education programme supporting 20,000 children with these crucial services after being affected by the earthquake and ongoing conflict.

*Name has been changed to protect identity.