"The guy at the checkpoint accused me of being a member of a sleeper cell, an agent of [Kurdish militias] PYD or PKK, and arrested me," Raman, who is a Kurd, says. "They put me in the cells of the military police." A few months later, Raman and his brother Aram* are in an refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan with their families, running a kebab shop for their fellow asylum seekers. Far from rebuilding, they say the Free Syrian Army – the umbrella name for dozens of armed militias that rule Afrin – was kidnapping people and threatening them with long stretches of detention. They handed Raman to civilian authorities and told him he would stay in custody for six months or a year. Alternatively, he could pay $US15,000 and be released. On the surface it looked like a judicial process. Part of it took place in the local courthouse, and the money was apparently to pay to find proof that he was innocent. In reality it was a shakedown.

"We sold our sisters' and our mothers' gold to free him," brother Aram says. "It's popular now to pay. Everyone pays, unless you want to stay in the prison forever," Raman adds. Syrian refugee Nermin Alwan in front of her home in Basirma camp where she lives with her four sisters, brother and parents. Credit:Kate Geraghty At the time, he says, 10 people per day were being brought in. He was told some were tortured, though he was not. "Until now, our uncle is in prison because we don't have the money to get him out," brother Aram says. Loading

Women, he says, were plucked off the street into "temporary marriage" with fighters. "Now you rarely see women on the street." As soon as Raman was released, the families fled again, eastwards, towards the Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan. "When we were going out, we saw dead bodies on the street, air strikes, aeroplanes struck the building we were in," Aram says. "My son is four years old, almost five, and he's still not talking, because of everything we went through." Later we see his son, Ahmed, in the doorway of the shop. He groans and hums, but does not speak.

Ahmed, 4, who has not spoken since leaving Syria because of the trauma, in Basirma camp. Credit:Kate Geraghty Amnesty international's Syria researcher Diana Semaan, confirms that many of the 20 armed groups that are supported by the Turkish government to rule north-eastern Syria were kidnapping for ransom. "As a result, some [people] were released but others were not. So it really depends on which armed group is responsible," she said. "Turkey is present in Afrin occupying official buildings and institutions and we have evidence that Turkey converted one of the schools to a military base." In a response to her investigation last year, the Turkish government questioned Amnesty's impartiality but did not provide a concrete response. Turkey regards Kurdish groups, including those armed by the American military to fight Islamic State, as terrorist organisations. The Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch, Sara Kayyali, said the departure of American troops, announced by president Donald Trump recently, meant things will "only get worse" for civilians.

"Even in areas held by the Syrian regime, there are less active hostilities, but ... there is very little happening on the ground for ordinary people. Since 2011, civilians have never been the prioriety." Sehla (left) complains that the roof of her hut leaks as she plaits her daughters hair in Basirma refugee camp, Iraq. Credit:Kate Geraghty Global donations to Syria are declining on the understanding that the war is winding down. A ceasefire is in place and US troops, quickly or slowly will withdraw. Australia's three-year, $220 million humanitarian allocation runs out at this year and it's not clear if it will be replaced. But Kayyali says that, far from seeing refugees return to Syria, thousands are still fleeing. "Anyone who can get out is getting out ... The Turkish border from Idlib sees hundreds a day wanting to be smuggled across."

A boy runs along a street in Basirma refugee camp. Credit:Kate Geraghty In the Basirma camp in Iraq, brothers Aram and Raman want to go to Europe. They say they will never go back to Syria. "Now we tell people: in Syria the groups are all the same, Raman says. "I tell them not to go back because Syria has become a gangsters' place. Even if the land of Syria was made of gold, I wouldn't go back." *Not their real names. Both men requested these names be used to protect their uncle in custody.

Michael Bachelard travelled with the assistance of Oxfam. To support Oxfam’s work go to https://www.oxfam.org.au/my/donate/syria-crisis