Northern Lebanon , near the Syrian Border ( CNN ) -- A young mother with 6-month-old triplets , a laborer still fearful of reprisals , a preacher whose wife was shot dead at an illegal border crossing , wounded in hospitals , a man living in a converted classroom -- these are among the 5,000 or more Syrian refugees living in Lebanon . `` For many of them , it 's like , if they get detained , they 're dead , '' said Nadim Houry , deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch , about the plight of Syrians who are still in their country . `` And I 've heard from many people who say , ' I 'd rather take my risk , you know , escape , maybe die on the road escaping as opposed to getting detained and being tortured . ' '' Pressure mounts for international response . Most Syrians who succeed in making their way to Lebanon take up residence with relatives or find modest shelter in the working-class neighborhoods where rents are low . Im Walid , a Syrian refugee , told CNN that she knows her husband would join the Syrian revolution if they were to return , so she plans to remain here . Counting their triplets , they have six children . They 're routinely sick and work is scarce , but somehow , the family has managed to scrape by , she said . The hardest part , she said , is being away from the rest of their family in Syria . Today , many Syrians -- the activists , the organizers , those who are being sought by the Syrian government and those who are wounded -- find their way to Lebanon by fleeing through illegal crossings . In some places , only a thin finger of water separates the two countries . But that passage can carry risks . Abdul-Rahman Al Akari knows them too well . The Sunni Muslim preacher , who was once jailed on charges of fomenting unrest in Syria , moved to Lebanon a few months ago with Rabia , his 24-year-old wife and mother of three . But she missed her family and returned to Syria to visit . When she tried to cross illegally back into Lebanon , a Syrian security agent -- aware that her husband was being sought by Syrian authorities -- fatally shot her , according to Abdul-Rahman . Some of the wounded in hospitals here say they might risk a return to Syria through similar illegal crossings in order to rejoin the revolution . Regular border points are out of the question for them , they say . Should the world intervene in Syria ? Though life in Lebanon is not easy , many Syrians say they left their country for their children , and that the decision to go was a matter of life or death . Abu Mohammed says he took his family out of Syria eight months ago , fearing for the safety of his five children . Fear , he said , is rooted deeply in everyone living under the current regime in Damascus . `` I fled because the army and thugs entered our village and bullets were pouring like rain , '' he old CNN . `` It was either stay and die , or leave . '' He still looks over his shoulder , even in Lebanon . Ahmed found shelter in a dim , converted classroom in Lebanon a few kilometers from the border . He and his seven children survive on handouts , for which he is grateful . When those handouts arrive , they bring brief moments of relief for Ahmed and , for his children , even joy -- when toys are involved . But the growing tide of Syrian refugees is not a happy one . For many , there is the pain of lost loved ones and the depression of not knowing when , if ever , they will go home .
Thousands of Syrian refugees are living across the border in Lebanon . Abdul-Rahman Al Akari says his wife , a mother of 3 , was killed at an illegal crossing . For thousands of Syrians , the decision to flee was a matter of life and death . AMYGOODMAN: