The toys they carried - Syrian children under siege

Syria : The airstrikes have been unrelenting in a Damascus suburb, where frames of bombed buildings loom over ghostly streets. Hundreds of lives have been lost in less than two weeks of a government siege of the suburb, eastern Ghouta. Dozens of children are among the dead. Many have been crushed by the collapsing walls of homes levelled by missiles.

The siege has been deemed “one of the most pitiless onslaughts in this long-running and brutal civil war” by the top United Nations human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein.

Families have headed into basements and dank tunnels, with small cookstoves, flour and warm clothes. Children, born into war, bring what they love: Their toys.

Maya, 5, brought her dolls and favourite stuffed cat, Tiki, fearing the missiles that threatened her life could take theirs. Others have brought blocks, boardgames like Monopoly and tiny cars, playing while the adults scrounge firewood for the stoves and try to feed babies suffering malnutrition.

These are the stories of children who have cheated death, told partly through what they carried into shelters — and what they left behind — as told by their parents, via phone and internet messaging apps.

Maya, 5

She clutched her dolls close, her deep brown eyes fixed on their faces. Her mother, Nivin Hotary, snapped a photo.

“Of course, every doll has her own name, and she loves them all,” Ms. Hotary, 38, said. “When I asked her to keep them in the house, she refused and asked me to bring them with us to the basement.”

Last week when Ms. Hotary grabbed her children and supplies, Maya, mimicking her mom, collected her toys.

“It was my responsibility to protect my children from the bombing,” Ms. Hotary wrote. “She’s determined to protect her children, too.” “But I can’t tell her that her toys will stay safe.” Maya was born two years into the war, her days defined by the conflict unfolding around her. Ms. Hotary said Maya and her 11-year-old brother, Qusay, understand what is happening but not why.

For now, they focus on their own universe: a cramped basement with neighbours. Sitting on a mat that insulates against the cold of the concrete floor, Maya prepared “dinner” with her plastic kitchen set.