No Refuge: The Tragic Fate of Syrian Women and Children Refugees

No Refuge: The Tragic Fate of Syrian Women and Children Refugees

By Maria von Welser

272 pages • ISBN 9781771643078

Maria von Welser is a German journalist, television presenter, and author. She has reported from Chechnya, Croatia, Gaza, and India and was London Bureau Chief for National German Broadcaster ZDF. She is the former Vice Chair of UNICEF Germany.

No refuge: this is the harsh reality encountered by the women and children who flee Syria in search of safety. When boatloads of Syrian refugees began arriving on European shores in the spring of 2015, Western television screens were filled with images of men. Where, journalist Maria von Welser asked herself, were the women and children, whom she knew made up over half the population of refugee camps?

The German journalist reports from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey along with some points such as Lesbos and Lampedusa, where millions of refugees, in desperate journeys and dangerous rafts, cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life.

In these pages, von Welser reveals the hidden stories of those Syrian women and children. There are stories of desperation and predation: loss of wealth and of life, child marriage, rape, kidnapping, and sex slavery. But there are also stories of empowerment and hope–including the conviction that we can turn compassion into real change.

The author calls on the international community to reject discrimination and assume a responsibility by welcoming women, children and all the refugees as newcomers.