Avoiding risky sea journey, Syrian refugees head to Italy Just before midnight in a sleepy district of Beirut, dozens of Syrian refugees huddle in small groups around bulging suitcases, clutching their pinging cellphones and one-way tickets to Italy. They practise random Italian words in a schoolyard in the Lebanese capital's eastern Geitawi neighbourhood, waiting for the buses that will take them to the airport, and onwards to their new lives in Italy. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES