What is home?

Syrian displaced children pose for photo at Atmeh camp, near the Turkish border, Syria, on Friday. On World Refugee Day, Reuters photographer Khalil Ashawi went to the Atmeh camp in Syria, where families have been sheltering since 2011 from a conflict that has made half of Syrians homeless, to ask children born in the camp a simple question: what is home? They all gave him different answers on their daily ordeals and they each have their unique story of the war. But they have no idea what a home is. "These kids don't know the meaning of a home, some don't know or have forgotten that a house has a wall and a door," Ashawi said. The United Nations' refugee agency is marking this year's World Refugee Day with the message that "every action counts", as it faces the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic and record numbers of people forced from their homes by war and extreme weather. Conflict, hunger and economic upheaval had displaced nearly 80 million people worldwide, half of them children, by the end of 2019 - nearly twice as many as a decade ago.

Photo: Reuters