Maher Zain visits Lebanon with UNHCR

UNHCR High Profile Supporter, Maher Zain, was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. His family moved to Sweden during the civil war. Maher recently returned to Lebanon with UNHCR to be briefed on UNHCR's response to the Syrian refugee crisis, and to meet refugee families.

Every one of us has a unique iris, just like having a unique finger print. Iris-scanning is the final stage of the registration process that includes an interview where biometric data including names and addresses are recorded along with testimonies and lists of relatives. After they register, UNHCR can advise refugees on what services they can access and are entitled to ie. education, healthcare, cash assistance, shelter assistance etc

Registration goes far beyond a mere head count: it is the recording, verifying, and updating of information on Syrian refugees so they can be protected and supported by UNHCR. Registration is crucial for identifying individuals who are vulnerable (eg. unaccompanied children, female headed households), at risk, or have special needs.

Registration goes far beyond a mere head count: it is the recording, verifying, and updating of information on Syrian refugees so they can be protected and supported by UNHCR. Registration is crucial for identifying individuals who are vulnerable (eg. unaccompanied children, female headed households), at risk, or have special needs.

There are four UNHCR registration centres spread throughout Lebanon. Currently 12,000 Syrian refugees are registered each week. The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon now amounts to a quarter of the local population. Lebanon is a small country with a big heart but it is struggling under the strain of giving refuge to so many Syrians.

There are over 3 million Syrian refugees with the majority in the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon. Lebanon bears the biggest burden of all, hosting over 1.1 million Syrian refugees, the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide.

UNHCR High Profile Supporter, Maher Zain, in Lebanon with 12-year-old Syrian refugee, Mahmoud. The day Mahmoud's family left Syria started off as a 'normal' day – that means shootings and mortar shells – but things escalated and became even more intense than usual. "My mother told us to get ready to leave. We packed lightly because we didn't think we would be away for long – a few hours or maybe a few days at most. I packed only my favourite things – some clothes and toys."

In Lebanon, Mahmoud's father found work on a construction site but he recently injured his back at work and now he can barely walk. Mahmoud is the eldest and only son so with his father unable to bring in an income, Mahmoud has had to drop out of school to work. He is now the main breadwinner of the family.

Mahmoud: "I work from 6am – 12pm in construction and I am paid $3.30 a day. At the construction site there is no one my age. They are all much older than me. When I get home, I'm really tired, but I take a shower and have a little time to rest before going to my second job."

After their savings went, the family sold their furniture and then started buying food on credit with their local grocer who they are paying back in instalments. Mahmoud says, "If I don't work we would have to borrow more money from people. I have to think of myself as a grown up now."

Back in Syria Mahmoud used to love school, particularly English and Arabic and he was top of his class. He says, "If I can't go back to school I want to educate myself anyway. It's so important because without education you can't be anyone. When I am older, I want to become an engineer. I want to rebuild my home in Syria and I want to help people in need."

Mahmoud's two little sisters say that he has started getting back pain from the construction work. They say he's tired all the time. That he's not the brother he was before. He doesn't have the energy to play with them. He doesn't laugh much anymore. He works. He eats. He sleeps. He worries.

Mahmoud's second job of the day is at a local café where he works from 1pm- 6pm. "Sometimes I stay late at work if there's something urgent that needs doing. I do multiple tasks from squeezing juice to assisting customers and selling. The work in the café isn't as tiring as the construction work but by the end of the day I'm very tired."

UNHCR recently identified Mahmoud as a vulnerable case due to him being the primary breadwinner of the family. The family is now in the process of being enrolled for cash assistance from UNHCR that will cover their rent and basics and will mean that Mahmoud can go back to school.

Despite the shooting and the bombing Khaled's family hung on for as long as they could in Syria. Then one day it was relentless – gunfire, shelling, mortars. They were one of the last families to leave their neighbourhood. They fled to Lebanon. Some weeks later they were looking on Facebook for updates on their home town and they came across video footage of their home. Destroyed.

With Khaled unable to work the family savings weren't able to support them for very long. They had to sell their furniture to pay their rent and bills. They started buying food on credit at their local grocery store, slowly building a debt they couldn't repay. Eventually they felt they had no choice but to take 12-year-old Mahmoud – their eldest child and only son – out of school and send him out to work instead.

In Lebanon, Mahmoud's father found work on a construction site but he recently injured his back at work and now he can barely walk. Mahmoud is the eldest and only son so with his father unable to bring in an income, Mahmoud has had to drop out of school to work. He is now the main breadwinner of the family.

When the family arrived in Lebanon they had some savings and Khaled found a job after a couple of months working on a building site. He rented a simple apartment for the family and they cut back on any luxuries. Life became very basic, but they were managing. Then Khaled injured his back on the building site. He was carrying sacks of cement mix and he felt something strain and felt a massive pop. He says it was like a water balloon exploding in his spine.

UNHCR High Profile Supporter, Maher Zain, visits Khaled and his wife and children at their home in Lebanon. There are currently over 1.1 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. There are no refugee camps in Lebanon so refugees are spread over 1700 different sites throughout the country living in rented apartments, unoccupied premises, privately owned informal tented settlements, rehabilitated warehouses etc.

Khaled and his wife are devastated at having to send Mahmoud to work. Khaled says it had taken 20 years to build the life for his wife, children and family that they had in Syria.  Yet it only took a matter of months for it all to slip away from them.  But Khaled also talks about the love they have for each other and the strength in their family that will see them through even greater challenges than this.

Before the family fled in 2012, Khaled worked in construction, based in Syria but traveling around the region. He was doing well. He had built a house with his own hands, brick by brick, and he'd bought a little store that his wife used to manage. The three kids were in school – they were high achievers – and the family had everything they needed and wanted.

In his xrays Khaled's spine seems to arc half way down, and then dissolve.  He can barely walk.  He is in pain. He lies on a mattress on the floor all day. He needs an operation but it costs too much and there is no guarantee that it would make him any better (there's a risk it could actually make him worse).