There's a Syrian refugee crisis, which you may have heard something about. Millions have fled the violence of a Syrian civil war to make the long journey to Europe. The Huffington Post's Sophia Jones followed these Syrian refugees for three weeks through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany to observe the devastating hardships these unfortunate ... Wait, where are you going, aren't you interested in this? No, it's not in your backyard, but ... still. OK, OK, what if I spice it up a little, maybe throw a little Kardashian action in the mix? ABOUT 4 MILLION SYRIANS HAVE FLED THEIR HOMELAND AS A RESULT OF THE COUNTRY'S BRUTAL CIVIL WAR. SINCE THE START OF THE CONFLICT IN 2011, OVER 2 MILLION SYRIANS HAVE FLED TO TURKEY. MORE THAN A MILLION SYRIANS HAVE SOUGHT REFUGE IN LEBANON. MORE THAN 620,000 HAVE LEFT FOR JORDAN. THE SYRIAN REFUGEES ARE AMONG HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE MAKING THE DEATH-DEFYING TRIP ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN THIS YEAR, HOPING TO REACH EUROPE. THEY FACE MANY CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORTS THAT SOME REFUGEES CROSSING THE BORDER FROM GREECE TO MACEDONIA HAVE BEEN PHYSICALLY BEATEN BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. WHILE CROSSING INTO HUNGARY FROM SERBIA, WHEN THEY AREN'T BEING ATTACKED BY HUNGARY'S JOURNALISTS, MANY SYRIAN REFUGEES HAVE BEEN FORCED TO SLEEP IN THE COLD, MUDDY FIELDS. 71 REFUGEES SUFFOCATED TO DEATH WHILE BEING TRANSPORTED THROUGH AUSTRIA IN A REFRIGERATED TRUCK. INCLUDED WERE AT LEAST A DOZEN SYRIAN TRAVEL DOCUMENTS. AS WINTER APPROACHES, AND WITHOUT HELP, THEY COULD FREEZE TO DEATH CROSSING THE BALKANS, AN AREA THAT CAN REACH MINUS 15_° C_. EVEN IF REFUGEES GET TO GERMANY, THE PREFERRED DESTINATION OF MANY SYRIANS, SOME DON'T MAKE IT ALIVE. A SYRIAN WOMAN WHO DROWNED CROSSING THE MEDITERRANEAN WAS LAID TO REST IN BERLIN ON JUNE 16. A SECOND COFFIN, EMPTY, REPRESENTED HER SON, WHO WAS ALSO LOST AT SEA BUT NEVER FOUND. ... "KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS" RETURNS TO TELEVISION SUNDAY, NOV. 15! In the meantime, check out Sophia Jones' amazing piece, and consider donating to one of the many organizations currently helping Syrian refugees. _(Big thanks to HuffPost Senior World Editor Eline Gordts for all her help and expertise on the subject.)_ _ALSO ON HUFFPOST:_ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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