Nine years of Syrian war: Nine portraits of kids who dream of home

On World Refugee Day (June 20), Reuters photographer Khalil Ashawi captured portraits of nine refugee children, one born each year of Syria's war, at Atmeh camp for displaced people on the Syrian-Turkish border, where families have been sheltering since 2011 from a conflict that has made half of Syrians homeless.

He illustrated each of the war's nine years with a simple picture: a refugee child born in that year. Each poses in a tent, each alone, apart from eight-year-old Jumana and her twin brother Farhan. Pictured: Ranim Barakat a 9-year-old displaced girl from Hama countryside, poses for a picture in a tent at Atmeh camp.

Walid al-Khaled, a 2-year- old displaced child from Aleppo city. "Every kid represents a year in the uprising. Every kid narrates a story and they each have their unique story of the war," Ashawi explained. "These kids don't know the meaning of a home, some don't know or have forgotten that a house has a wall and a door."

For those children old enough to talk, Ashawi asked each the same question: what is home? Six-year-old Rawan Al Aziz (pictured), from southern Idlib, in a patterned dress, said she still remembers her house "built in the old fashioned way" in south Idlib. "A house for me is a place where my friends and family are. I brought my toys with me but it's not nice here at all," she said. "A tent is not a house, because it might catch fire and it might fly with the wind."

Maysaa Mahmoud, a 5-year-old Syrian displaced child from Homs countryside.

3-year-old displaced child Mahmoud al-Basha.

Mariam al-Mohamad, four-year-old displaced child from Homs city.

Jumana and Farhan Al Alyawi, 8-year-old displaced twins from east Idlib.

Abdul Rahman al-Fares, a 4-month-old displaced baby from south Idlib countryside.

Mohamed Abdallah, a 7-year-old displaced boy from Jabal Al Zawiya in Idlib's southern countryside.