By — P. J. Tobia P. J. Tobia Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/worst-humanitarian-crisis-since-world-war-ii Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The worst humanitarian crisis since World War II World Jul 29, 2015 5:36 PM EDT The Syrian refugee crisis is the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. And we think people should know more about it. Of the 4 million refugees, the vast majority are women and children. And nearly 3 million of those children are out of school with no hope of returning to any formal education. For this week’s Shortwave, P.J. Tobia interviews Saba Mobasalat from Save the Children. She talks about a little boy who makes a dollar a day crawling into empty diesel tankers to sponge up and sell leftover oil, and she talks about food aid that’s about to run out of funding. “I hate the diesel market … all of it makes me sick.” – Khalid, 12, Syria. #ChildrenNOTworkers pic.twitter.com/FWd9et9PoQ — UNICEF Australia (@unicefaustralia) July 2, 2015 He also interviews Nihad Sarmini in Jordan, who travels into Northern Syria to help child refugees. “There is a lot of child labor there, and we found out that their work is very dangerous, and actually it’s affecting their mental and physical health,” he said. Click “listen” on the podcast below to learn more. Editor’s Note: The World Food Program received $65 million from the United States, enabling the agency to continue the food voucher program — albeit at a lower level — for the 440,000 refugees living outside of camps in Jordan, the agency announced on July 31. By — P. J. Tobia P. J. Tobia P.J. Tobia is a Foreign Affairs Producer at PBS NewsHour, covering the Middle East and North Africa. He is also the host and producer of the foreign affairs podcast "Shortwave." Prior to this Tobia spent two years in Afghanistan covering Afghan politics, life and the U.S.-led war. @PJTobia
The Syrian refugee crisis is the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. And we think people should know more about it. Of the 4 million refugees, the vast majority are women and children. And nearly 3 million of those children are out of school with no hope of returning to any formal education. For this week’s Shortwave, P.J. Tobia interviews Saba Mobasalat from Save the Children. She talks about a little boy who makes a dollar a day crawling into empty diesel tankers to sponge up and sell leftover oil, and she talks about food aid that’s about to run out of funding. “I hate the diesel market … all of it makes me sick.” – Khalid, 12, Syria. #ChildrenNOTworkers pic.twitter.com/FWd9et9PoQ — UNICEF Australia (@unicefaustralia) July 2, 2015 He also interviews Nihad Sarmini in Jordan, who travels into Northern Syria to help child refugees. “There is a lot of child labor there, and we found out that their work is very dangerous, and actually it’s affecting their mental and physical health,” he said. Click “listen” on the podcast below to learn more. Editor’s Note: The World Food Program received $65 million from the United States, enabling the agency to continue the food voucher program — albeit at a lower level — for the 440,000 refugees living outside of camps in Jordan, the agency announced on July 31.