Syrian refugees - in pictures

20 May 2011: Refugees collect their share of aid in Wadi Khaled, Lebanon. At least 5,000 refugees arrived in northern Lebanon as Syrian security forces began cracking down on protesters demanding the end of Bashar al-Assad's regime Photograph: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

8 June 2011: Refugees waiting at the border to cross into Turkey. The Syrians were coming from the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughur, where there were fears of a backlash after officials said 120 policemen had been killed there Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images

11 June 2011: Refugees setting up tents at a camp in the Turkish border town of Boynuegin. More than 5,000 Syrian refugees had crossed into Turkey and the Red Crescent was preparing a fourth camp with room for 2,500 more Photograph: Osman Orsal/Reuters

12 June 2011: Children at the Boynuyogun Turkish Red Crescent camp near the Syrian border Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images

15 June 2011: A man carrying children shouts during a spontaneous protest against the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in a camp in Yayladagi, Turkey Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

17 June 2011: Refugees in the Boynuyogun Turkish Red Crescent refugee camp in the Altinozu district of Hatay Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images

28 September 2011: A woman gives her child a shower in the kitchen of an abandoned school in a camp in Wadi Khaled, Lebanon Photograph: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

14 February 2012: Civilians flee from fighting after Syrian army tanks enter the north-western city of Idlib Photograph: AP

16 February 2012: Sawssan Abdelwahab, who fled Idlib in Syria, walks with her children outside the refugee camp near the Turkish-Syrian border in Yayladagi Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

10 April 2012: Men fleeing Syria clear barbed wire to enter Turkey near Reyhanli. Turkey said it was considering a buffer zone along its border with Syria after large numbers of Syrians crossed into Turkish territory to escape attacks in their homeland Photograph: Burhan Ozbilici/AP

10 April 2012: A girl flashes victory signs as children look out from behind a fence at Yayladagi refugee camp in Hatay, near the Turkish-Syrian border Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters

12 April 2012: Refugees walk between containers at the 'Container City' camp in the province of Kilis, Turkey Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters

25 July 2012: A family at the Domiz refugee camp in the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk, some of the 11,000 people who had fled to the Kurdistan region of Iraq Photograph: Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters

7 September 2012: Fatimah Abdullah, 29, who fled her home in Marea, with her four-day-old twins, Ahmad and Bayan, after their birth in a Turkish hospital. The new mother and her babies took refuge at the Bab al-Salameh border crossing in the hope of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

29 August 2012: A girl looks out of her parents' tent at the Zaatari camp in Jordan Photograph: Ali Jarekii/Reuters

8 December 2012: A refugee family crosses into Turkey via the Orontes river, near the village of Hacipasa Photograph: Manu Brabo/AP

17 December 2012: People warm themselves at a refugee camp in Azaz, Syria Photograph: Manu Brabo/AP

20 December 2012: Families who have fled their homes in Idlib in the wake of an air strike by government forces look out of a bus window after crossing the Turkish border Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

22 December 2012: A toddler cries as she arrives with her family at the Bib Salam refugee camp in Syria near the Turkish border Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

8 January 2013: Mud and water at the Zaatari camp in Mafraq, Jordan Photograph: Mohammad Hannon/AP

9 January 2013: A man stands on a water tank at the Zaatari refugee camp near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. Bad weather, including torrential rain and freezing temperatures, added to the hardships facing the refugees over the winter Photograph: Mohammad Hannon/AP

9 January 2013: A woman does the washing at a refugee camp near Diyarbakir, Turkey. The refugees faced further misery because of increasing shortages of supplies, low temperatures and snowfall Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

17 March 2013: A woman carries her child outside their makeshift home in the Qah refugee camp near Idlib, Syria Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

25 June 2013: Twin sisters at their desks in the Unicef school at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan Photograph: Mohammad Hannon/AP