Another refugee named Maha, 13, said: 'My father forced me to get married because he heard about a rape case [in the refugee camp] nearby.

'He was scared the same would happen to my sister and me. He forced my sister to get married first, and then he made me get married right after that.
My father forced me to get married because he heard about a rape case [in the refugee camp] nearby. He was scared the same would happen to my sister and me
Maha, 13, a Syrian refugee in Jordan

'It was all very forceful and I had no choice. I didn't want to get married. I would've liked to finish my studies, but I couldn't do that.

Young Syrian refugee girls are also married off because it is 'one less mouth to feed' for their poverty stricken families, said Jihane Latrous, a child protection specialist at UNICEF.

Lebanon is trying to tackle the problem with laws to give civil authorities power in an area that has long been controlled by religious clerics.