Syria: Child Labour

SYRIA - As each day of the Syrian conflict passes, the childhood and futures of many Syrian children are threatened.

Fawzi,* a teenage Syrian refugee in Lebanon, tries to make ends meet by shining shoes in the city. Left without a home, Fawzi* resorts to sleeping under a bridge at night.

Walking the streets of Beirut, Lebanon, it is impossible to miss the children weaving through the cars and crowds. They walk up to strangers holding items to sell, such as lighters, roses, gum packets and a variety of non-essential items.

Barely reaching the height of an adult’s waist, a small girl shyly approached the crowd holding a pack of lighters for sale. With dirt on her face she glanced upward at passersby asking in Arabic if they would purchase one of her multicolored lighters. When asked how old she was, she responded shyly that she was 4.

For the 1 million child refugees living outside of Syria an increasing number of children have taken to the streets of Lebanon to sell or beg for money. Lebanon houses more than 826,669 registered Syrian refugees, with 52 percent of them being children. Many of the children are not in school and they are resorting to street work or manual labour to help provide for themselves or their families.

*Name changed for security reason