As they watch US-led coalition jets bomb positions of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the outskirts of Syria’s Kurdish town of Kobane, Kurdish families who escaped from the conflict to Turkey cling to the hope that one day they will be able to return home.

In September, ISIL intensified the fight for control of the town and the surrounding Kurdish villages, prompting the exodus of thousands of Kurds into the southern Turkish town of Suruc.

Most of the refugees now live in camps, struggling to feed their children who have no access to formal education.

As air temperature keeps dropping, refugees – who depend on charity groups for aid – say they are unable to keep their children warm so far from home.

Ali, 34, who spent the last five years in Morocco working as a well digger, said the family house he recently built in Kobane was destroyed in the ISIL offensive.

“I sacrificed five years of my life to come back later to Kobane and settle down. Now my life has turned into rubble, just like my house. I was supposed to get married this month but now, it’s all gone, just like Kobane.”