Displaced Syrians find refuge in hotels
Thousands of Syrians have taken refuge in the capital from fighting around their hometowns.
The Kertaj is one of a number of cheap hotels full of displaced families around Damascus' Marjeh Square. Around a dozen families have been living in the Kertaj for months and say it has become like a home to them.
Once total strangers hailing from far-flung parts of the countryside around Damascus, the families living in the Kertaj have created a sort of communal family in the hotel's cramped quarters. They all live on the third floor, and the wives cook together in the kitchen of the restaurant on the top floor, to which the owner has given them free rein. Their kids play together, dashing around the hallways and up and down the narrow staircase. The husbands - those who still have jobs - come back in the evening and play backgammon together in the restaurant, where the TV is.
Nearly 5 million people around this country of 23 million have been driven from their homes as regime forces and rebels battle in the 2.5-year civil war. Around 2 million of those have fled abroad. The rest are scattered inside Syria, taking refuge wherever seems safe.
