Syrian women feel like they are in prison as they struggle to find jobs, educate their children and keep safe in the face of chronic under funding.
“Women don’t feel confident or comfortable alone outside the camp. There may be violence. They are scared… I wanted to go to the dentist but my mother couldn’t come with me and I couldn’t go alone. Here it is like a prison.” (Roksan Suleimen, Basirma Camp, Iraq)
Invisible Lives, a new report launched by Islamic Relief at the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference on September 18, shows that chronic underfunding is making life miserable for Syrian women refugees in neighbouring Iraq and Lebanon.
Some women say the refugee camps they are living in feel more like prison camps as they struggle to make ends meet, to find safe childcare, to cope with harassment and to get their children into school.