Lauren Meling's blog

The crisis in Syria passes the two-year mark in March with no end to the conflict in sight. Meanwhile the number of people in need grows as over 1 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries while about 2 million people are displaced within Syria. And as fighting persists, the death toll continues to rise, topping 70,000 killed in early March.

Over 310,000 people have now crossed Syria’s borders in desperate search of safety. More than 220,000 of them are women and children.

It’s hard for us – an ocean and world away – to truly understand the misery. UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie saw the suffering firsthand.

Watch her fight back tears as she speaks about the sorrows of Syrian refugees.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie met with Syrian refugees on Tuesday, Sept. 11, during a visit to the Za'atri camp in Jordan. Guterres said the "camp needs massive international funding" and that "the conditions are still not acceptable."

This July, supermodel and former Sudanese refugee Alek Wek will make her first journey home since South Sudan gained independence last year.

Khaled Hosseini, in a guest post on USA for UNHCR's Blue Key blog, pointed out that, "Anyone can be a refugee." No child grows up anticipating they will be forced to leave everything they know and love behind. He certainly didn't.