A boy who hasn’t opened his mouth in three years, and other photos of the real cost of Syria’s war

The conflict in Syria has scattered refugees literally to the four winds. Some 2.8 million Syrians have fled to Lebanon (to the west), Iraq (east), Jordan (south), and Turkey (north) to escape the fighting, on top of 6.5 million people who have left their homes but stayed within Syria. Many of the refugees, and the wounded, are children.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, a.k.a. Doctors Without Borders) treats people at refugee camps and makeshift clinics both inside Syria and in the neighboring countries. Late last year it sent four photographers to document a single day in the lives of the refugees, and the doctors and nurses who care for them, many of whom are refugees themselves. We’ve excerpted some of the often heartbreaking photographs here; many more, as well as videos and other materials, can be found at MSF’s site, Reach of War.