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Fairfield-Based Save The Children Steps Up Support For Syrian Refugees

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — Fairfield-based Save The Children has been helping children and their families in war-torn Syria for years. But its work has taken on a wider scope as families take greater risks to leave the dangerous, war-torn country.

Save The Children is working to support children and their families who are fleeing Syria.

Save The Children is working to support children and their families who are fleeing Syria.

Photo Credit: Save The Children

Wendy Christian, an organization official, said the migration of Syrian refugees is "greater than any we’ve seen since World War II.”

Although Save The Children has helped meet the long-term needs of children in Syria for five years, it started to help those fleeing Syria this spring.

“Now we’re looking at the migrants, these refugee families going across Europe and what kind of needs they have,” Christian said.

Fleeing on tiny rafts, the families often arrive in Europe with very little. Sometimes, they have run out of food and water.

“They only have what they carry on their backs,” Christian said.

Save The Children helps to provide them with sustenance when they arrive in Europe. The group also give blankets to families, which help keep them dry and warm after their journey across the sea.

Once in Europe, the refugees often sleep in temporary shelters, which are challenging places for children.

“They’re like giant gymnasiums or warehouses with Army cots,” Christian said. “That’s no where to keep a family or a child safe.”

Save The Children provides “safe spaces” within these shelters. The spaces give parents a place to leave with their kids can be while they attend to urgent matters such as completing the paperwork to continue their journey.

The spaces also give some semblance of childhood to the migrants. Some of the children, who often don’t understand why they are fleeing Syria, suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome.

“They’re going through a traumatic time,” Christian said. “They don’t know what their future is.”

More than 7.5 million children are in need of assistance, according to Save The Children.

Of the Syrian refugee population, one in three children has been hit, kicked or shot at; 5 million children are in need of emergency help; and 7,000 children have been killed.

Save The Children has provided educational opportunities, school supplies, and safe play areas to children in the Middle East for decades, she said.

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