Bekaa Valley, Lebanon — Standing on her feet in the same spot upwards of 10 hours a day in a dimly-lit room, “Taliba,” a 13-year-old Syrian refugee living in this lush farming region, folds boxes at a dress sock factory along with her sister five days a week, each earning 50 cents an hour.“I absolutely hate this job,” said Taliba under her breath, aware that her employers are seated not far from her as she folds a pre-scored piece of cardboard into a small box top. “My school I miss most.”
Advertisement
Europe is failing refugees from Syria. Read more here.She and her younger sister “Fatima” — who both asked their real names not be used — want nothing more than to return to the classroom, which they last attended over a year ago before having fled their war-torn hometown of Aleppo, Syria with their family.
Sisters Fatima and Taliba Ages: 9 and 13, respectively Hometown: Aleppo, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Titles: Dress sock factory box makers Experience: 10 months Earnings: $20/weekMuch of the Bekaa Valley is home to those like the sisters; young refugees left with nothing to do other than work in order to help support their families because a continuance of education in Lebanon is far too expensive.Public education in Lebanon is tuition-based, starting at about $200 a month depending on the school. Coupled with the cost of school supplies, uniforms and daily transportation, Syrian refugee parents simply cannot afford the added cost.
Abdullah Age: 6 Hometown: Aleppo, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Family Farm Sheep Herder Experience: 1 year Earnings: n/a
Mohammad
Age: 10 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Family Farm Farmhand Experience: 7 years Earnings: n/aFor those fortunate enough to afford a public education are met with language barriers and overcrowding issues. In Syria schools are taught entirely in Arabic whereas in Lebanon, French and English are also incorporated into the curriculum.
Advertisement
Mohammad Age: 13 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Pizzeria Worker Experience: 10 months Earnings: $20/week
Kes Age: 12 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Pizzeria Worker Experience: 2 weeks Earnings: $20/week
Mohammad Age: 12 Hometown: Hamah, Syria Current location: Beirut, Lebanon Job Title: Auto Mechanic's Assistant Experience: 1 year Earnings: $25/weekIn the heavier populated Beirut, an hour’s drive east, refugee children are easily spotted on highways and main thoroughfares pedaling everything from belts and wallets to flowers and flash drives.Syrian refugees turn to Europe—and human smugglers. Read more here.
Basil Age: 17 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Beirut, Lebanon Job Title: Flag Peddler Experience: 2 years Earnings: $40-$60/weekBasil, a 17-year-old football fanatic from Homs, Syria sells flags to passing motorists in and around Beirut’s Hamra neighborhood.“If God wills it I will return [to school],” said Basil as he unfurls medium-sized Middle Eastern, European and South American country flags to display them upright into a cardboard tray before walking into oncoming traffic.
Advertisement
But as important as education is to Basil, his greater concern is bringing his family to Beirut. The trip for them to join him can cost $1,000 to $1,500 and each week he sends money to them back in Homs. Sharing a single room in Hamra with a cousin, Basil understands that it may take years before he sends his family enough money for them make the journey over the border.During a good week Basil can earn 90,000 Lebanese Pounds (LBP), the equivalent to $60, more than double what other Syrian refugee youth earn.Basil’s flags, which he purchases at cost then sets his own retail price, vary in sales pitch.“Brazil and Germany are best sellers,” he said, and charges 10,000 LBP, or $6.60, for each. Other country flags fetch far less.Although he does not consider himself a salesman, Basil pushes the Brazilian flag due to next month’s 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He also heavily markets the German flags because of the country’s longstanding and successful national football team; both key selling points he undoubtedly reminds prospective customers as he matches pace outside their moving vehicles in Beirut’s daily rush hour crawl.
Syrian refugee boys play football with Lebanese and Saudi Arabian kids in an abandoned parking lot in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday, May 23, 2014.
When not on the job Basil plays football with friends and has his cousin teach him to speak English by watching YouTube videos. The slim, soft-spoken teen’s only complaint about his work concerns the discrimination he feels as he approaches possible customers.
Syrian refugee boys play football with Lebanese and Saudi Arabian kids in an abandoned parking lot in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday, May 23, 2014.
“Some [Lebanese] people do not like Syrians,” said Basil.
Advertisement
Mohammad Age: 9 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Beirut, Lebanon Job Title: Flower Peddler Experience: 2 years Earnings: $10-$20/weekMany other Syrian refugee teenagers who work agree but they, like Basil, manage to deal with whatever comes their way.
Ahmad Age: 12 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Beirut, Lebanon Job Title: Pizza Maker Experience: 3 months Earnings: $20/weekResentment among the Lebanese towards Syrians runs deep. Syria’s occupation of Lebanon stretched from 1976 to 2005 and since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, an estimated 3 million refugees have crossed the open boarder into Lebanon.Older Syrian refugees kids mostly concern themselves with working enough to save up for tuition, if not having to contribute to the family’s income.Younger ones like Mohammed, however, a 12-year-old from Aleppo who works as a butcher in the Bekaa town of Zahle, doesn’t necessarily miss school.
Mohammad Age: 12 Hometown: Aleppo, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Butcher Experience: 6 months Earnings: $20/weekWorking not far from the dress sock factory, Youssef, a 14-year-old employed at a Syrian-owned pastry shop, earns $25 a week, which is as much as 12-year-old Mohammed earns assisting a Lebanese auto mechanic on the border of Beirut’s upscale Raouché area.
Hussain Age: 12 Hometown: Homs, Syria Current location: Zahle, Lebanon Job Title: Barber Experience: 2 years Earnings: $20/weekLebanese and Syrian employers alike state the same refrain; an “opportunity for any kid, refugee or not, to make $25 a week far outweighs them doing nothing and roaming the streets.”
Get the latest from VICE News in your inbox. Sign up right here.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.