The displaced and the desperadoes living on the fringes of Syria's bloodshed - PHOTO

20:28 | 12.05.2014
The displaced and the desperadoes living on the fringes of Syria's bloodshed - PHOTO

The displaced and the desperadoes living on the fringes of Syria's bloodshed - PHOTO

Two men sit waiting in the central reservation of a sun-bleached highway, staring into the distance. They are staring over an imaginary line that separates Turkey, where they sit, from their homeland, Syria.

They are two of an estimated three million Syrians who have fled their country as it has, over the past three years, been reduced to rubble by civil war.Today they hope to piece back together some of their shattered lives. They expect the arrival of relatives, fellow refugees fleeing the fierce fighting in Syria's North West. But they don't know when, or if, their loved-ones will arrive.These poignant photographs were captured by photojournalist Vianney Le Caer, from Elephant and Castle, South London. He went to Turkey to document the lives of some of the many Syrians who have fled the bloodshed, as well as those of some of the fighters who are embroiled in it.More than a million Syrians have entered Turkey since the uprising began. Its response to the crisis was praised as 'exemplary' by UNHCR, but it has so far housed just 300,000 of those in official camps.'There are lot of urban refugees,' said Mr Le Caer. 'They go into Antakya, they start businesses, or sometimes in informal settlements as well, they rent rooms.'It's a very porous border, for the refugees and for the fighters as well. They go in and out, it's very easy.'For instance, when they have huge fights in Syria and they have a lot of casualties - injured people, I mean - they would bring them from Syria to the border.'From there, a Turkish ambulance would drive them to hospital.'Mr Le Caer met three such fighters on his first day in Antakya. Outside the town's hospital stood three bearded men of the Suqour al-Sham Brigade who had crossed over to get one of their comrades treated.'They were waiting for him to come out of the hospital and cross back into Syria. And they of course invited me to follow them. I declined.'They were very, very friendly. They told me, "We want to help you to get famous. Come with us, we'll show you all the pictures."'I told them, "I don't have a bullet-proof jacket."'"Me neither," he said. "We are friends!"'Other fighters were not so friendly. Outside the refugee camp at Kilis, Mr Le Caer ran into a group from the Al-Nusra Front.One of whom bore the scar of an AK47 bullet to the face, which had taken his eye and part of his nose.'He was chilling with all his comrades, about four or five of them,' said Mr Le Caer. 'I have this ring with this little cross. When they saw that they asked me to turn it around.'They were half-joking and half-serious about the fact I was not Muslim. They were telling me Bin Laden is good and all this stuff. I think it was to provoke me.'I stayed like five minutes then I left.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az

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