Syria's Growing Refugee Crisis

For Syrian civilians, life is hell. They risk being killed in the crossfire of dueling snipers while going about life's basic routines. Their dwellings don't offer havens and indeed are potential death traps because of the ever-present danger that Bashar al-Assad's bombardments could turn buildings into piles of steel and concrete, entombing the occupants. Then there are the car bombs, kidnappings, revenge killings and murderous paramilitary gangs.

But another category of Syrian victim gets less coverage: the refugees who have been forced to flee their homeland after their once-tranquil neighborhoods were transformed into killing fields. They have escaped the hell of war but their life as displaced people is hellish. They have felt the trauma of being uprooted from the places and people that provided their sense of community, seen loved ones die and have fled with minimal belongings, frightened children in tow, to makeshift tent cities in neighboring countries.