Heartbreaking images of Syria's child refugees

Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman has documented the heartbreaking scenes inside the area's refugee camps, where tens of thousands of children have taken shelter from the Syrian Civil War.

Many of those inside the camps urgently need medical attention. Liver disease, blindness, polio and other ailments are rife, while many who cannot remember life without killings are growing up without an education or with irrational fears caused by the horrors of war.

One such victim is 10-year-old Rahma. Born with a visual impairment, she used to attend a special school for visually impaired children in Dar'a.

She explained that liked the school and felt safe in its building, but when the war started the family fled. A hospital along the way offered Rahma an operation - but it was unsuccessful and now she is completely blind. 'I never go out', she said. 'I just sit here in the tent.'

Ali, 10, has a liver disease that prevents his blood from filtering as it should meaning that as soon as he goes out in the sun he gets severe sores, similar to burns.

His mother Turkiya, 30, has tried to get help, but said it was difficult.

'We've been to three hospitals. At two places, they were horrified when they saw him and turned us away at the door. At the third place we were able to see a doctor, but he couldn't do anything. He said it was too complicated.'

Ali knows that he shouldn't go outside since his skin gets a rash. But he can't help it when he hears the others playing.

He said: 'It's just so boring to only sit in the tent.'

Another 10-year-old, named Shiar, stepped on a landmine attempting to flee across the country's border.

He lost his entire left hand and has three fingers left on his right hand. His chest, neck and chin are full of scars. 'What I'm most sad about is that I can't go out. I'm cold all the time around the stump and I don't have anything to keep it warm.'

Mohammed, 4, has short stature and lives with his parents and two brothers beside a rubbish dump where a temporary camp was set up.

His family fled from Raqqa when he was a baby and he remembers nothing but war, nor has he ever spoken. The family wants to see a doctor who can look at his growth problem, but so far have not received any help.

Ahmed, 8, is blind. He lives in a plastic tent with his family and dreams of getting an operation so, one day, he can see. 'There's a rubber tire outside our house that I like to play with. But sometimes it rolls away and I can't find it,' he said.

Tiram doesn't know how old she is. She has problems with her back, she cannot see and has never gone to school.

She said: 'I like listening to the TV. That's what I usually do. I sit in the tent and listen to the programs. I get happy when there are cartoons. Then there's a lot of sound. It's funny. I would love to be outside, but I don't know the area. Sometimes I sit just right outside the tent.'

Shiraz, 9, was three months old when she was stricken with a severe fever.

The doctor diagnosed polio and advised her parents to not spend too much money on medicine for the girl who 'didn't have a chance.'

Then the war came. Her mother, Leila, described how she wrapped the girl in a blanket and carried her over the border from Kobane to Turkey. Shiraz, who cannot talk, received a wooden cradle in the refugee camp.

(dailymail.co.uk)