In a remote stretch of the desert near Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq, fragile tents housing an estimated 50,000 Syrian internally displaced persons dot an otherwise barren landscape. As you gaze around, the vastness of the desert makes you wonder if you have chanced upon the long-lost location of the proverbial ‘nowhere.’

Fleeing the violence their government had unleashed, tens of thousands of Syrians, overwhelmingly women and children, trekked to this no-man’s land to seek a respite from the war. Some also limped across the desert under a blistering sun to get here from areas in central and eastern Syria that ISIS had used suicide attacks to capture. Too fearful to return to their homes, and with Jordan blocking their entry, they have become, instead, stranded in these desolate parts of the desert where simple mercies prove elusive. With no reliable access to humanitarian relief, they now live on the brink of starvation.