Syrian refugees

 Syrians by the thousands are fleeing the violence in their home country and seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Turkey this week is said to be considering a buffer zone in Syria to secure its own national security as well as aid fleeing civilians. Turkey is already sheltering some 17,000 of those who have fled. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the yearlong conflict in Syria. A cease-fire agreement accepted by Syria Tuesday that was drawn up by United Nations envoy Kofi Annan was met with skepticism, and fighting continued between rebels and President Bashar Assad’s soldiers. -- Lloyd Young (32 photos total)

Syrian refugees are seen through a barbed wire as they arrive at border between Syria and Turkey, near Reyhanli, Hatay province, on March 27. Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on dissent, which monitors say has seen more than 9,100 people killed since March 2011, triggered an influx of refugees on the Turkish border as officials say the current number exceeds 17,000. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian refugee boy enters his tent at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border late March 17. Over the past few weeks, the number of Syrians crossing has increased dramatically with an average of 200 to 300 now coming into Turkey every day. This week 1,000 crossed in just 24 hours, the highest number since the first wave of refugees last summer. Around 15,000 registered Syrian refugees now live in tented camps inside Turkey, making up almost half of the 34,000 people the United Nations estimates to have fled Syria since the start of the conflict a year ago. (Murad Sezer/Reuters) 

A Syrian child is seen with her family who fled from the Syrian town of Qusair near Homs, at the Lebanese-Syrian border village of Qaa, eastern Lebanon, on March 5. More than a thousand Syrian refugees have poured across the border into Lebanon, among them families with small children carrying only plastic bags filled with their belongings as they fled a regime hunting down its opponents. (Hussein Malla/Associated Press)

A Turkish soldier searches a young Syrian refugee at a border crossing near Reyhanli, Turkey on March 20. The number of Syrian refugees living in border camps in Turkey is now approximately 17,000. (Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)

A Syrian boy who fled the violence in Syria wears a headband in the colors of the pre-Baath Syrian flag as he stands in a shelter housing refugees in the Lebanese city of Arsal in the Bekaa Valley on March 26. United Nations Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said that only Syrians could determine President Bashar-al-Assad's fate and called for the rival sides to negotiate an end to the conflict. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees walk on the Syrian side of the Turkish Syrian border at Reyhanli in Antakya, on March 14 as they attempt to cross into Turkey. International mediator Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to the killing of civilians in Syria as he arrived in Turkey for talks on the crisis. Activists said that the Syrian army launched a new assault in the restive northern province of Idlib and the city itself, where residents are suffering "indescribable" humanitarian conditions. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees hide their face as they arrive near the border between Syria and Turkey at Reyhanli in Antakya on March 15. Some 1,000 Syrian refugees, including a defecting general, crossed into Turkey in 24 hours, braving land mines placed to stop them by Syrian troops, Turkish officials said today. The head of the Turkish Red Crescent meanwhile warned that the number of Syrians arriving in Turkey could reach half a million if President Bashar Assad’s regime keeps up its year-long crackdown on dissent. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish soldiers patrol around the Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay on March 25. (Osman Orsal/Reuters)

Syrian refugees in their camp near the border in Reyhanli, Turkey onMarch 19, 2012. The number of Syrian refuges fleeing violence in their country is now more than 16,000. (Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)

Syrian children attend a class at a makeshift classroom at the Boynuyogun refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province on February 8. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Syrian refugee children use computers during a class at the refugee camp in Yayladagi on March 26. Turkey is home to a growing number of Syrian refugees fleeing the more than year-old unrest raging in its neighbor. Officials said the total figure has slightly exceeded 17,000 against about 9,500 only two months ago. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian boy plays at a makeshift kindergarten at the Boynuyogun refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February on 8. Some 10,000 refugees are now registered in tented camps and the number is rising steadily. At least 2,000 more live outside, either with relatives or in rented accommodation. One tent serves as a makeshift art classroom and exhibition space for the camp's children. Drawings, paintings and sketches line the tent's walls while dozens sit on a table in the middle of the room. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Laundry hangs from a fence at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border March on 19. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Syrian refugees who fled the violence back home are seen at a camp near Zakho, an Iraqi border town with Syria, on March 15. The camp houses nearly 100 Syrian Kurdish families who have fled the fighting since the uprising in Syria, according to regional Kurdish officials. (Azad Lashkari/Reuters)

Syrian refugee children look at a bird in a cage at the Red Crescent camp in Boynuyogun village, Hatay region on March 25. The Boynuyogun camp, holds some 2,000 Syrian refugees accommodated in 600 tents fleeing the more than a year old unrest with officials saying the total figure of people who have fled Syria has slightly exceeded 17,000. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

Friends carry an injured Syrian refugee inside their camp in Reyhanli, Turkey on March 20. (Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)

Syrian refugees stroll at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border on March 15. A government offensive in Syria's northwest has sharply increased the flow of refugees into Turkey, with about a thousand crossing in the last 24 hours, Turkish officials said on Thursday. The numbers fleeing was expected to grow further as long as fighting continued around the town of Idlib, close to the Turkish border, one Turkish official said; but he declined to say how many more Turkey was expecting. (Jonathon Burch/Reuters)

A wheelchair bound Syrian refugee waits outside the field hospital at the Red Crescent camp in Boynuyogun village, Hatay region on March 25. The Boynuyogun camp, holds some 2,000 Syrian refugees accommodated in 600 tents fleeing the more than a year old unrest with officials saying the total figure of people who have fled Syria has slightly exceeded 17,000. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

Syrian refugee children stand outside their tent at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border on March 15. (Jonathon Burch/Reuters)

Syrian refugee children play on swings at the refugee camp in Yayladagi on on March 26. Turkey is home to a growing number of Syrian refugees fleeing the more than year-old unrest raging in its neighbor. Officials said the total figure has slightly exceeded 17,000 against about 9,500 only two months ago. (Adam Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian family who fled the violence in Baba Amr neighborhood, in the flashpoint city of Homs, eats dinner in their room during a power outage at a school which is converted to a refugee center in the area of Wadi Khaled on the Lebanese-Syrian border northern Lebanon on March 15. According to United Nations and local officials more than 1,500 Syrians, mainly women and children, have crossed into Lebanon in recent weeks. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees walk through woods helped by rebels from the Free Syrian Army as they attempt to cross the northwestern part of the Syrian border with neighboring Turkey, on March 18 a year after a revolt against President Bashar Assad’s regime erupted. (Giorgos Moutafis/AFP/Getty Images)

Artwork is seen on a tent wall at the Syrian refugee Red Crescent camp in Boynuyogun village, Hatay region on March 25. The Boynuyogun camp, holds some 2,000 Syrian refugees accommodated in 600 tents fleeing the more than a year old unrest with officials saying the total figure of people who have fled Syria has slightly exceeded 17,000. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

A member of Free Syrian Army gives some food to a Syrian refugee family as they wait to cross to Turkey at the border between Syria and Turkey on March 26. Syrian official media reported that Syrian border guards clashed with a group, seeking to enter the restive northwestern province of Idlib from Turkey, a number of whom were killed and wounded, while others fled to Turkey. (Ricardo Garcia/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian girl who fled the violence in the Syrian town of Qusayr looks out of the window of a bus upon arrival to the Lebanese city of Arsal in the Bekaa Valley after crossing through Lebanon's northern border with Syria on March 26. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian girl who fled the violence in Syria sleeps with a doll at a shelter housing refugees in the Lebanese city of Arsal in the Bekaa Valley on March 26. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

A refugee who fled the violence in Syria carries refreshments at her temporary home ahead of International Women's Day at the Al Hussein Palestinian refugees camp in Amman on March 7. (Ali Jarekji/Reuters)

A refugee who fled with his family from the violence in Syria, stands at his temporary home during a visit by a French delegation in Tripoli, northern Lebanon on March 14. (Omar Ibrahim/Reuters)

Syrian refugees receive blankets from a Qatari charity organization in Amman, Jordan on March 17. (Ali Jarekji/Reuters)

A Syrian family of refugees have lunch in their tent at Boynuyogun refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border on March 16. Turkey said it might set up a "buffer zone" inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing President Bashar Assad's forces, raising the prospect of foreign intervention in the year-long revolt. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Mohammad (12) a Syrian refugee wearing a scarf with the colors of the Syrian Independence flag, stands outside of Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border on March 17. Over the past few weeks, the number of Syrians crossing has increased dramatically with an average of 200 to 300 now coming into Turkey every day. This week 1,000 crossed in just 24 hours, the highest number since the first wave of refugees last summer. Around 15,000 registered Syrian refugees now live in tented camps inside Turkey, making up almost half of the 34,000 people the United Nations estimates to have fled Syria since the start of the conflict a year ago. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Syrian refugees arrive into Qaa village, in northern Lebanon on March 4. Up to 2,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria are crossing the border into northern Lebanon, according to a spokesman for the United Nations. (Afif Diab/Reuters)