March 2015 has marked the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Syria. More than 470,000 people have died since. In all, 11.5% of the country’s population have either been killed or injured. 45% of the population have been displaced, 6.36 million internally and 4.8 million abroad. This is the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era. Lost Family Portraits aims to tell the story of those who have lost family members in the Syrian war, and who have made their way to the refugee camps in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. The empty chairs or spaces in the photographs symbolise the missing family members. Lost Families Portraits is a reminder of the of the destructive power that war has over families. It is also a testimony to the 1.5 million refugees who are left behind in Lebanon, who cannot afford to buy their way into Europe and have nothing to go back to.
01 - KHAWLEâ€S FAMILY
Khawle’s family escaped, leaving their grandmother, three brothers and two sisters in Syria.
The bus they were on was stopped and told to get out. They continued the rest of the journey on foot, but run into some IS fighters.
One of Khawle’s daughters has a learning disability and IS targeted her. They beat her so badly that, she couldn’t move for days.
“Perhaps we might stay like this for the rest of our livesâ€, says 44-year-old Khawle. “I don’t have anything to be happy for, just to live like this. I feel sad living here without all of my childrenâ€.
02 - OWAYED’S FAMILY
Owayed’s family arrived in the camp six months ago, after traveling through snow-covered mountains for five day with very little food and water.
On the journey, they met a group of armed men.
62 -year-old Owayed was forced to leave his four sons behind - one of whom is blind. The youngest, has 'disappeared’.
Owayed received WhatsApp messages from his sons regularly. Then one day, the messages stopped. He hasn’t heard from them since.
03 - MOHAMMED’S FAMILY
Just over a year ago, 55-year-old Mohammed was sitting in his living room with his family when a missile hit their home.
The missile’s shrapnel severely injured their eldest son. The family ran, but in the chaos, their son disappeared.
Mohammed hears from reports back home that his son’s injuries force him to behave extremely irrationally, including destroying his ID papers, essential for getting to safety.
The family live on tenterhooks, wondering whether the next communication about their son will be notification of his death.
Mohammed says, “I live with hope that one day soon the war will stop, and our family will be whole againâ€.
04 - AMMOUNA'S FAMILY
When the bombardment intensified in her hometown, Ammouna told the family it was time to leave.
They took only what they were wearing.
The journey was a dangerous one – like so many
others, they took a bus which stopped at the border. There the family had to get out and walk, braving the dangerous territory where armed groups were fighting each other.
Ammouna worries about her father who she left
behind: “I try to speak to him as often as I can, but it is difficult. Sometimes I can’t get a signal on my phone and other times we worry about what we say to each other in case someone is listening.â€
05 - SAHAR’S FAMILY
Before the war, Sahar (50) lived ‘a good life, a simple life’. Her husband had died and so her children looked after her.
A year-and-a-half ago, Sahar was woken from her bed in the middle of the night by the sound of airstrikes.
She woke her three children staying with her and managed to escape .
Her other nine children could not. She hasn’t heard any news from them since.
“It breaks my heart not having all my children here. I cry all day thinking of themâ€.