Syrian war orphans fleeing their country are usually deeply traumatized. But as a stream of refugees makes its way through Europe, some orphans say the death of one child could mean a better life for others.
If you ask the children at this orphanage what they want in the future there is one consistent answer. They want to return to Syria.
But in the meantime, caretakers said many of the children here were severely traumatized. Haila did not want her face on camera because her family is still in Syria.
“It takes a long time for their minds to heal, and it needs professionals. The second problem, which I think is more important is the problem with education,” said Haila.
Brutal reality
The trauma is evidenced in artwork, where children draw their homes with airstrikes overhead.
And some children fight the horror with a dream of an entirely new life in Europe, like the hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee there.
“I saw on the Internet that there was a little child who drowned in the sea. And because of this boy, they are going to send big boats for us,” said Rawan.
Adults say there’s almost no chance Europe will send boats to fetch people trying to enter Europe illegally.
But, they say, the public outcry over their ordeal has awakened the world to the plight of these children and the uncertain future they face.
Europe Migrant Crisis - Sept. 7, 2015
1/14Macedonian soldiers and police officers try to maintain order while migrants board a train near Gevgelija, Sept. 7, 2015.
2/14Refugees and migrants wait to cross the border from the northern Greek village of Idomeni to southern Macedonia, Sept. 7, 2015. Greece has borne the brunt of a massive refugee and migration flow of people heading into the European Union.
3/14Kenyan voters are seen queuing to cast their ballots at 6 a.m. in Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. (L. Ruvaga/VOA)
4/14A migrant runs after he entered the territory of Hungary by crossing the temporary protection fence along the Hungarian-Serbian border as a Hungarian police car approaches at Roszke, 180 kms southeast of Budapest, Sept. 7, 2015.
5/14A migrant searches for clothes at Keleti railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 7, 2015.
6/14Migrants try to cross under a wire fence on the Serbian border with Hungary, near the village of Hajdukovo, Sept. 7, 2015.
7/14Refugees and migrants take part in a protest to demand faster processing by local authorities of their registration and the issuing of travel documents, at the port of Mytilene, on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, Sept. 7, 2015.
8/14Volunteers help a Syrian refugee (C) who collapsed moments after arriving on a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, Sept. 7, 2015.
9/14Refugees and migrants push each other as they try to board a bus following their arrival onboard the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, Sept. 7, 2015.
10/14A large group of migrants, mainly from Syria, walk towards the north on a highway in Denmark, Sept. 7, 2015. The migrants intend to reach Sweden and seek asylum there.
11/14Supporters give warm food to migrants arriving at the Westbahnhof station in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 7, 2015.
12/14Red Cross workers look at aid goods for migrants at the border between Hungary and Austria, in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Sept. 7, 2015.
13/14Migrants eat outside a makeshift refugee camp at the fair ground of Munich, Germany, Sept. 7, 2015.
14/14Migrants are seen in a makeshift bedroom for 2,200 refugees at the fair ground of Munich, Germany, Sept. 7, 2015.
