'The war in Syria has thrown its neighbours into turmoil.
'Well over a million Syrians have fled here, to Lebanon,
'where they now make up a quarter of the population.
'Many of them now live in hundreds of makeshift camps
'dotted across the landscape.'
Hello. It's good to see you again.
'Aya is five years old. I'd met her before in the spring.
'In fact, I was so moved by her situation
'I had to come back to see how she is.'
Every time I see her she always has a smile.
THEY LAUGH
'Aya was born with spina bifida,
'a condition that has left her paralysed from the waist down.'
It's not fair, I've only got one hand.
TRANSLATION:
'Her family used to live comfortably in Syria.
'Her mother Sihan was a teacher, father Ayman ran a soap factory.
'Now they live in a tent they built themselves on waste ground
'next to a cement plant.'
'They fled Syria this spring after heavy fighting
'in their home town of Idlib.'
'Like many children with spina bifida,
'Aya is in a fragile condition.'
'The tube drains excess fluid from her brain.
'If it gets blocked, it could cause brain damage.
'In Syria, she saw a doctor every two weeks,
'Aya doesn't qualify for any further medical help.
'Every day, her future hangs in the balance.'
'Aya is prone to pressure sores.
'The concrete floor and lack of treatment is making things worse.'
I've just been shown the sore on Aya's back.
It looks a lot worse to me than the last time I was here.
It looks infected.
Her mum has got no dressing, so she's basically using a T-shirt,
folding that up and using it as a kind of padding.
What I can't understand is why the most basic medical needs
of somebody like Aya, who is so vulnerable,
are simply not being met.
'The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR,
'co-ordinates international efforts to help the refugees.
'But they've only received a third of the money
'They give Aya's family food coupons of a $140 a month,
'but the help stops there.'
'Ayman and Sihan are worried they might be forced
'into a decision they dread.'
One of the things that really struck me from when I first met them
was the love in Aya's family.
So it's pretty hard to imagine how bad the situation would be
where Aya's father feels possibly the only way forward
is for them to be separated from their children,
so their children can find somewhere else to live.
'The Lebanese government has refused to allow official refugee camps
'or any permanent structures,
'to discourage the refugees from staying
'and upsetting the country's delicate sectarian balance.
'So these tents have to be built out of flimsy, temporary materials.
'Living on the margins of society makes it hard for them
'to access even what little help there is.
'Today I'm in the nearby city of Tripoli with the only charity
'that deals specifically with disabled people.'
'The charity says one in five Syrian refugees has a disability.'
'They are visiting Ahmed.
'He lost his legs after a rocket attack in Syria.'
This brings back a lot of memories,
but I have to say it's a lot more fun watching.
'He arrived in the country over two years ago,
'while there was still decent accommodation available,
'which the UN paid for.'
See, we have almost identical injuries.
'Despite his injuries, Ahmed has begun working as a volunteer
'with the UN, helping other disabled refugees.'
'Every day he travels out to visit people in the neighbourhood
And this bit here?
OK, so the big question, can I have a go?
OK, so it's one bike, two men, no legs,
what's the worst that could happen?
CALL TO PRAYER
'Ahmed has heard about another refugee
'in a similar situation to his own.'
'Hassan lost a leg 18 months ago in Syria when his town was shelled.
'He's been waiting for a prosthetic leg for over a year.'
What is it you're able to provide, what is it that you do?
Does it help you having Ahmed come around
and talk things through with you?
You know, I know for me when I lost my legs
it was a really, really dark time,
and I kind of lost all hope of really having a normal life.
But it was visits by other amputees that inspired me
and made me realise you could a lot more.
That's exactly what Ahmed is doing here.
'Unlike Aya, who has lived with spina bifida since birth,
'Ahmed needed emergency help.
'Doctors in Syria transferred him to Lebanon just days after
'he was injured, with legs swollen and turning blue.
'The UN paid for his legs to be amputated
'and 17 follow-up operations.'
To me, you're a real success story.
You're somebody that's come here with terrible injuries,
and somehow you've managed to turn your life around.
You're supposed to say, "It's my wife."
'The next day I go with the Handicap International team to see Safa,
'an 18-year-old refugee.'
'Three years ago in Syria, Safa's heart stopped
'after an electric shock from a washing machine.
'The doctors revived her, but by then she was brain damaged.
'To help her breathe she was given a tracheotomy.'
'she now she an infection in her lungs.
When I sit down,
so please don't worry.
I had a tracheotomy
and I know how important it was to keep it very, very clean.
It had to be sterile at all times
I could get lung infections.
'Rwaida fled with Safa from Qusair,
'one of the areas of Syria that was hardest hit in the fighting.'
You must have been so desperately scared.
Now you've got here how do you feel?
Because, obviously, the situation is so desperate.
To be honest, seeing Safa is one of the worst situations I've seen.
She's desperately in need of help and she's struggling to breathe,
she has a tracheotomy.
She has an infection in her lungs - and yet she's here in a shack
that's made of cardboard on a concrete floor.
'The UNHCR says that the most vulnerable refugees will be
'provided with accommodation.
'Rwaida says they've been promised a house,
'but there are none available.
'It's early in the morning in Aya's camp.
'The children are just getting up.'
'doing their best to keep the wound clean.'
It's OK.
She's not feeling so well today?
Do the children get sick a lot more here?
Sitting here with Aya and her family
having breakfast is such a familiar scene.
Watching a mother getting her kids up, they don't want to get up,
they're sleepy, they're moaning...
the reality is, for these kids there is no school.
In fact, there's nothing for them to do.
Sihan used to be a nursery school teacher.
She continues to teach
Aya's father, Ayman, desperately wants to find a job.
He ran his own business in Syria,
but here there are too many refugees and not enough work.
Having had that role, it must be incredibly difficult
for you not to be able to work.
Sihan heads off to the local shop.
She finds it impossible to support her family on the money
the UN provides.
When the money runs out, they're forced to live on credit.
What happens if you can't find a way to pay this back,
if you can't pay this debt?
She's been borrowing money from extended family
since their savings ran out, but they are getting desperate.
I want to find out why refugees like Aya and Safa
aren't getting the support they need.
This is a waiting area for refugees who are coming
to register with UNHCR. That means
they're coming to identify themselves
and to ask for assistance, and where we interview them to
Ninette Kelley.
What struck me when I was here last time is that
I was meeting some of the very vulnerable refugees, and by that
I mean children with disabilities, single mothers with their children,
the elderly, and really it seemed that they were struggling, you know.
I would be the first to tell you that what refugees are able
to receive does not meet all their needs, not nearly so.
With 30% of our budget funded, it's simply impossible for us
to cover all the basic needs that we need to cover.
If I think of Aya, who is a particular case that just...
you know, I felt a connection with her and her family...
I don't know what I should say to her when I go back.
I feel so sad for them, so sad for their families
and also very sad for the front line workers that have to be able
to say, "I'm so sorry, we feel your need, but we're just unable
"to do anything about it because we don't have the resources to do it."
And it all comes back to - where is the source of this problem?
The source of this problem is the ongoing conflict in Syria
that is wreaking havoc in this region and that has
torn apart so many lives with
devastating consequences to Aya and to others.
Back in Tripoli, Rwaida is feeding Safa.
What do you hope for in the future?
'Being a full-time carer is just one of the most demanding jobs
'you can possibly imagine,
'especially for somebody like Safa, who needs 24-hour care.'
But to do it in these circumstances is, for me, beyond comprehension.
I mean, they are in a living hell.
When winter comes it will bring storms and freezing temperatures.
Aya's family are doing their best to get ready.
So is this getting ready for the winter?
Every time I see her, Aya is like a shining light, she's always smiling.
She must mean so much to all of you.
Do you think this is going to hold out against the winter?
How do you think Aya's going to cope with the winter?
MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO
Aya and her family better accommodation.
No-one here wants to be a refugee.
They've escaped the war
only to be caught up in another humanitarian tragedy.
it's the most vulnerable refugees who endure the worst suffering.
In the next episode of Unreported World -
the Siberian models chasing stardom in Shanghai.
Here everyone's speaking Russian, it's so weird!
One, two, three...
Marcel Theroux reports on the highs
and lows of Russia's most glamorous export.
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd