Reference :
V-P-SY-E-00578
Date :
25/02/2016
Caption :
On the outskirts of Homs, Al Wear, shelter for internally displaced person. The ICRC president Peter Maurer (right) and an ICRC employee visit with Khaled, a resident of the shelter.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
reserved users only
Description :
ICRC website article, 23.02.2016 : “ Diary: Bearing witness to the crisis in Syria. In late February 2016, our president Peter Maurer was in Syria. Each day he reflected on what he saw on the ground. […]Thursday: "Sleep is a scarce luxury in the humanitarian world." What keeps me up at night changes, but tonight it will be Khaled's story. Khaled sold vegetables before the war in Syria started. He and his wife had eight children and a full life. Today, Khaled is a broken man. It started when his son went to get bread, and was killed by mortars. Khaled and his family fled the fighting, four times, leaving everything behind each time. Then his wife died while giving birth. Today, Khaled lives with six of his children in a shelter in Al Waer, an area on the outskirts of Homs that is under siege. There is no work, no formal school, and whether or not food and goods can enter Al Waer is unpredictable. Khaled told me that all he wants is for his children to be able to play. But he worries, that if the war goes on any longer, he will lose all of his children. I visited Khaled's hometown, Homs city, today. The city centre is a surreal scene of mass destruction. There is hardly a building that wasn't destroyed, a painful reminder of the cruelty of urban warfare, where civilians are the first victims. There are no people there anymore, adding to the impression of a ghost town. In the old town of Homs, there was destruction, too, but people are slowly returning, and even a few small shops have opened, selling washing powder in individual packets and small quantities of vegetable oil. I hope that Khaled will be able to return to Homs city, and watch his children play, in peace. […]."
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
4608x3456
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
