In 2014, Vilvoorde launched a project to counter the radicalization of young men and boys. Since then, the number of departures to Syria has dropped to zero. Boudaati said people involved in the project were trying to help young people find work and meaning at home in Belgium, as well as to understand the true word of the Quran, rather than Salafist interpretations.

Social media does more than share information about Syrian refugees; it offers ways you can help them. Here are five ways that highlight how social media supported Syrian refugees in the past year.

Life on the Border', a documentary [...] presents a unique perspective of their life experiences in the midst of brutal attacks by the Islamic State. [...]  "Refugees" [...] captures the real-life drama of the migrants through virtual reality images of their predicament and the hardships they have had to face in the battle for survival.

As it stands, the international coalition is far from winning the information war against the Islamic State. Its air strikes may be squeezing the group in Iraq and Syria and killing many of its leaders, but that has not halted the self-proclaimed caliphate’s ideological momentum. 

An affiliate of the largest and most powerful Kurdish party in Syria, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), opened its first official mission abroad — in Moscow. Given the amount of military and political support the PYD has received from the United States, this decision is likely to be received with some shock and confusion in the West. But a closer examination of the PYD’s historical experience and core interests suggests that the politics behind a potential realignment with Moscow makes strategic sense.

While Germany has grabbed most of the attention for its response to Europe's migrant crisis, little fjord-filled Norway has quietly emerged as one of the largest contributors of humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees.The oil-rich Scandinavian  country of 5 million has pledged $1.2 billion over the next four years for people who have fled Syria's nearly 5-year-old civil war.

A Syrian refugee is showing Germany's locals and newcomers that the best way to understand each other is through humor. Firas Alshater, a drama student and filmmaker, is the star of a new YouTube video series that explores German society from a refugee's point of view.

Inside a big, shiny, spanking clean structure equipped with an advanced computer system are activists working for The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, known by its Turkish acronym IHH. They are coordinating the extensive activity involved in transferring aid to the Syrian refugees and setting up camps on Syrian soil.