Syrian Refugees Spend Somber Eid in Camps

August 19, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, a holiday to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But for Syrian refugees living in camps, the day is passing without much celebration. The UN says more than 170,000 Syrian refugees have been registered in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Nearly 70,000 of them are in Turkey, where the government is worried that number will grow as fighting intensifies. Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports.

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Eid ul-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr, also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, the Sugar Feast, the Sweet Festival and the Lesser Eid, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. The religious Eid is a single day an... Explore this topic

Refugees of the Syrian civil war

Refugees of the Syrian civil war or Syrian refugees are Syrian nationals, who have fled Syria with the escalation of the Syrian civil war. To escape the violence, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Iraqi ... Explore this topic

Syrian people

The Syrian people are the inhabitants and citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history, they are, in fact, largely a blend of the various Aramaic, Ara... Explore this topic

Refugee camp

A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs. Refugee camps are generally set up ... Explore this topic

Refugee

A refugee is a person who is outside their country of origin or habitual residence because they have suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because they are a member of a persecuted 'social group' or because they are fleeing natur... Explore this topic

Ramadan (calendar month)

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Syria-Turkey relations

Syrian–Turkish relations have long been strained. Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighboring states together. This friction has been due to disputes including the self annexation of the Hatay Provinc... Explore this topic

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Turkey

Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country, located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and on East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armen... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

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Eid ul-Fitr

Refugees of the Syrian civil war

Syrian people

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