Syrian boy and his dog walk 500 km to flee war

As millions of people are displaced due to the war in Syria, they are forced to leave their homes in search of a place of peace.

Among the latest group of refugees is 17-year-old Aslan, who couldn’t bear to leave his beloved dog behind.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) posted a video on Facebook of Aslan and his dog, Rose.

The 17-year-old said he had walked 500 km with his dog since leaving Syria`s capital.

Many along the way questioned why he would bring Rose, but Aslan refused to be separated from his puppy. He said he has everything the two need to survive, including water and food.

Once it was time to cross the Mediterranean, many told the boy repeatedly he couldn’t bring his pet with him. Aslan refused to abandon her and even made Rose her own passport.

Eventually, the two made it safely to Greece.

When asked why he had only one small bag for himself and continued to carry Rose in a carrier, Aslan simply replied: “I love my dog. I need him.”

War in Syria has been the “world’s single-largest driver of displacement” since early 2011, according to an UNHCR report.

Almost 60 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes by wars, conflict and persecution at the end of last year.

“We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in the report from June.