‘Peace classes’ help Syrian refugee children release the stress of war and displacement

The screams of聽a dozen Syrian and Palestinian children pierce the air of a聽community centre in Lebanon’s Shatila refugee camp.

Yet the children are not hurt. They are yelling to express聽the anger and fear they feel as victims of conflict in special聽“peace education” classes.

“We don’t hit each other. We don’t say bad things about each聽other. Boys don’t hit girls,” said 11-year-old Hala, who asked聽not to be identified for security reasons.

Hala fled Deir el Zor in Syria and has been living in聽Lebanon for less than two years. She said one of her favourite聽activities is “playback”, where each child will tell a story or聽describe a situation that is bothering them and will have the聽other children act it out.聽

Organised by Basmeh and Zeitooneh, a local charity, the聽classes in a chaotic fifth-floor room were set up to help聽children voice their opinions, release the stress caused by war聽and displacement and rediscover their imaginations, staff say.

They hope by providing children with activities such as聽painting, drama and storytelling, they will be less vulnerable to聽recruitment by militant groups preying on children and teenagers聽who may be out of school with little to occupy them.聽

“These kids have been through a lot. They’re traumatised in聽many different ways,” said “peace education” project manager聽Elio Gharios.

“They’re agitated, maybe introverted, aggressive at times,”聽he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.聽

Lebanon is home to more than one million Syrian refugees, half聽of them children.聽

In 1949, it opened the Shatila camp in Beirut to host聽Palestinian refugees fleeing Israel’s founding in 1948.聽

As a new wave of Syrian refugees joined the ranks of the聽displaced, Shatila has grown upwards, with some buildings now聽six floors high. Houses are damp and overcrowded, and the聽tangled electricity wires that hang across the streets cause聽multiple deaths a year.

More of an urban slum than a traditional refugee camp,聽Shatila which covers one square kilometre is home to as many as聽42,000 people, according to Rasha Shukr, the Beirut area manager聽for Basma and Zeitooneh.

Gharios, a charismatic 24-year-old Lebanese psychology聽graduate, said children aged between seven and 14 attend the聽classes with up to 20 children in each session.

Each class starts with the children deciding on rules for聽how they can and cannot treat each other.

“They need to know that finding peaceful ways to resolve聽conflicts is a very important matter … They are reminded every聽time that violence is not the solution, it’s not the way,”聽Gharios said.

“They’re young, it is the teenagers who are easiest to聽brainwash. Many children know how to roll a joint, say, and聽they’re 12 or 11. Many have witnessed things happen in here聽where someone would hold a gun against someone else’s head.”

Young Syrian refugees are at particular risk of being聽recruited by extremist groups in Lebanon and elsewhere because聽their recent displacement often fuels a sense of hopelessness,聽says UK-based charity International Alert, which funds projects聽in Shatila camp, including the classes. 聽 聽

Palestinian groups including Hamas militants and Palestinian聽President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement are active inside聽Shatila, according to charities working there.聽

Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, another extremist聽group, have also been known to target young refugees online,聽they say.

International Alert says these classes make children less聽vulnerable to recruitment because they provide them with a safe聽environment to discuss problems, learn conflict resolution聽skills and to rebuild a sense of purpose.聽

Caroline Brooks, Syria projects manager at International聽Alert, which supports similar programmes throughout Lebanon,聽Syria and Turkey, said there were many reasons why children may聽join an extremist group.

Often there is a need for a sense of significance, purpose,聽and belonging, and sometimes there is a desire for revenge, she聽told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

聽A lack of alternatives and the need to make a living are聽also strong pull factors, Brooks said.聽

Conflict and displacement tend to fuel the abuse and聽exploitation of children, refugee experts say.

For example, many children are forced to work or beg to feed聽themselves and their families, young girls face greater risk of聽being married off and domestic violence increases, they say.聽

“Peace education” classes, which started this year, have聽already had some impact, Brooks said citing a 17-year-old in the聽programme who was approached by an Islamic State recruiter聽through Facebook.聽The teenager immediately reported it to a member of staff聽involved in the classes.

For Hala, the classes which she has been attending for right聽months have made a huge difference to her and her younger聽siblings.

聽“My brothers changed. They became much happier,” she said.