Three years after leaving his home in Aleppo to seek safety from Syria's ongoing civil war, Ismael, an asylum seeker in Japan, feels life has not changed for the better.

Being denied refugee status and unable to unite with his family, the 30-year-old, who withheld his full name due to safety concerns, said he feels like he is walking in an endless "darkness," while scraping by with a low-paid part-time job instead of his former profession as a car mechanic.

"My home is destroyed and I have nowhere to return. Every day, I feel like I (will) go insane," Ismael said, his voice shaking.