Bekaa Valley , Lebanon ( CNN ) -- He escaped the war , but life 's no happier now for Omar . The 8-year-old Syrian refugee longs for friends back in Qusayr , hard hit by a civil war that grinds on . He also misses days in school -- when the most he had to worry about was finishing his homework . `` I work so I can bring money for my family , '' says Omar . His mother , like other refugees , asked that their last names not be used as they are worried for their safety . Eddie Izzard : In Syrian refugee camps , another day of childhood is lost . I met Omar on a hot , dusty day in Lebanon 's wind-swept Bekaa Valley . We were interviewing his mother when Omar and his 14-year-old brother came zooming by on a motorbike . They had just finished gathering eggs at a nearby farm -- what little money the kids make is the only way their family is able to survive . The job is hard , but Omar went through an even more difficult experience recently . `` They hit us , '' he says timidly , describing how Lebanese boys his age beat him up . `` They said to me , '' he adds , embarrassed and close to tears , `` 'Damn every Syrian . ' `` Omar now faces a different kind of brutality -- a harsh reality reflected in the weary faces of kids all around . Their eyes make them seem far older . There 's no childhood spark , with smiles few and far between . I ask a 15-year-old girl what life 's been like for her here . `` Life ? '' She asks unbelievingly -- as if the question were a farce . `` We manage to live , but it 's nothing like before . '' She 's forced to share a small tent with nine others . She says her circumstances are difficult , but at the same time , she feels blessed with what her family even has . In makeshift refugee camps such as this one , the overwhelming feeling is sadness . The Syrians interviewed say they ca n't believe their lives have come to this -- adding how they 're not just destitute , but they 're also facing discrimination . Bushra , a Syrian woman in her 40s , says she 's still shocked at the kinds of hateful words she 's heard since arriving . `` Some people say to me , 'God bless Bashar al-Assad 's hands , ' `` she says , `` 'the hands that slaughtered you all -- you deserve worse . ' `` Bushra says it 's told as a joke , but she and her family are n't laughing . The United Nations says more than 600,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring Lebanon , a tiny country of about 4 million people . Aid workers warn resentment toward Syrian refugees is on the rise here . `` The crisis entered its third year now , '' says Patricia Mouammar with World Vision , a humanitarian aid and development organization . `` And the Lebanese community -- even though very generous at the beginning of this crisis , now they can not take the burden . '' Mouammar says there are many reasons for increasing tensions . `` Rent -- the prices of the rent have gone up , up to 400 % in some areas , '' she says . `` Salary wages plummeted , and Syrian refugees are working for less , and they 're sharing homes with multiple families . And everyone is feeling that -- everyone is feeling the burden on the Lebanese hosting communities . '' Mouammar says her organization is `` calling for the humanitarian aid to direct more assistance toward both communities -- the Syrian refugees and the Lebanese communities . '' It 's gotten so bad that some Lebanese families have even been displaced . Taha , a Lebanese father , says his family 's former landlord kicked them out when a recently arrived Syrian family was willing to pay double the rent . His younger son 's anger is clear as day . `` The Syrians took our world away from us , '' says 9-year-old Iyad . `` There 's nothing left for us . '' His father 's outrage , however , is reserved for others . `` We 're not against Syrians -- we have to help the refugees , '' Taha says . `` But our government has to take care of us , too . '' Pointing to his oldest , he says , `` My son here , now he has to work too -- it 's awful . '' There 's no indication the teenager has heard us . He sits and stares -- his hopelessness and exhaustion apparent . He is n't just drained . Like so many Syrian children , he 's also desperate . Syrian refugees plead with U.S. secretary of state in Jordan . Syrian refugees flood Jordanian town .
More than 600,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring Lebanon , U.N. says . Resentment toward Syrian refugees is on the rise in Lebanon . Syrians say they 're destitute and face discrimination in new country . `` The Syrians took our world away from us , '' Lebanese boy says .