Syrian refugee: We never thought it would be so bad

BELGRADE, Serbia

The five-year war in Syria has killed nearly half a million people and displaced more than 10 million from their homes, and now a family who waited years for the war to end is seeking their future in the small western Balkans country of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Adil Abdullah and his family always thought that the war would soon end and all the horror they have been through would be left behind.

But five years of waiting has led to them to constantly move from place to place, and street to street, till finally they reached their final destination, which they call their "second homeland".

Adil Abdullah was first in Bosnia in the 1980s to study dentistry, and then as a volunteer doctor, during the Bosnian conflict from 1992 to 1995.

When the conflict ended, Abdullah returned to Syria and opened a private dental clinic.

But now, more than 20 years later, Abdullah finds himself in a war again.

"We didn’t know it would be so disastrous. We changed where we lived many times in Syria. We went from street to street, hoping that the war would soon stop. But it didn’t stop for five years," Abdullah told Anadolu Agency.

Abdullah first went to Turkey in the summer of 2015, still hoping that the war soon would stop. But the war did not end, and he says, "Life is hard when you don’t have a job in Turkey".

"It was hard to leave Syria but we had to do it. Then, realizing that the war wasn’t ending, I started selling everything we had: jewelry, gold etc. So I could buy what we need to live," he said.

Abdullah and his family made their way all the way from the Syrian war to a peaceful welcoming country and its citizens.

Yet he is still concerned for the future of his four children who witnessed the war.

He also wants to find a job for himself to provide them with a normal life.

"Right now my only problem is that I don’t have a job. I want to live here and get involved in social life with my family to forget what we saw in Syria," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdullah's sons are learning Bosnian to make new friends and go to school.

"I love it here, Bosnia is a beautiful country with peaceful, hospitable people," said Abdullah's son Raid. “I've already made many friends here, and I also want to go to school. I was out of it for five years. I love science. I want to be a biologist”.

Syria’s five-year civil war has left at least 250,000 dead and more than 11 million displaced from their homes, according to the UN.

Turkey hosts around 2.7 million Syrian refugees, and has spent more than $10 billion on refugees, according to Turkish officials.

The country aims to increase schooling for Syrian children with the help of a 3 billion euro ($3.27 billion) aid package pledged by the European Union.