Actress Lindsay Lohan visits Syrian refugees in Turkey

Actress Lindsay Lohan has described conditions as "very bad" after she visited Syrian refugees living in a poor neighbourhood in Istanbul in Turkey.

Lohan went to the Sultanbeyli suburb where thousands of Syrians are living in cramped conditions after being forced to flee the war in their country.

She introduced her 4.9 million Instagram followers to the Hussein family with an image showing her along with father Mohammad and his twin son and daughter Leys and Heya.

Lohan's visit was organised by Bosphorus Global which describes itself as an independent, non-governmental organisation based in Istanbul.

The visit was part of an international initiative called 'The World Is Bigger than 5' which has been pioneered by the Turkish youth movement, the Young Civilians.

The group wants the United Nations to drop the veto rights of the five permanent members of the Security Council - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States.

Syria's war, which has been raging since March 2011, has claimed at least 400,000 lives and an estimated 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of the conflict.