NEW YORK: The US Supreme Court has upheld a ban by President Donald Trump on travel to the US from five muslim countries: Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, reports CNN.

The ruling comes after months of challenges to Trump's executive order on immigration, which previously targeted only Muslim-majority countries, was denounced as xenophobic by critics, and prevented even refugees from entering the US.

But what's life like for people in those seven countries? For many, conflict, human rights abuses and long-term unemployment are the norm, and are reasons to flee or try to immigrate.

Here are snapshots of the current situation in each country:

Syria

Millions have been affected by the Syrian civil war, a conflict that has raged for over seven years, with an estimated 400,000 people killed and many more injured or permanently disabled. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the country into neighboring nations, as well as to Europe and North America. The US has been involved in the conflict since the early days, funding and arming rebel groups, and carrying out airstrikes against ISIS and the Syrian government.

Many refugees fear returning to Syria over alleged and documented atrocities by the Assad regime, and efforts to reach a political solution have struggled as some parties insist that any settlement involves the removal of Assad as leader.

Since the start of the 2018 fiscal year last October, the US has resettled just 44 Syrian refugees, according to State Department data. That's down from about 6,000 in the same time frame last year, most of whom were admitted before Trump's inauguration.

Iran

Iran was considered a pariah state by many Western powers, but that changed when Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in a deal crafted with the US, European partners, and Russia. The deal allowed the lifting of many sanctions, loosening restrictions on Iran's economy, and allowing foreign investment.

Trump rescinded American commitment to that deal in May, angering European partners, drastically worsening relations with Tehran, and putting the status of foreign companies operating in Iran in doubt.

While Trump and other hardliners in his administration have been strong critics of Iran, citizens of the Islamic Republic possess democratic rights some of their Middle Eastern rivals, like Saudi Arabia, have yet to realize.

At the same time, rights groups say the country remains autocratic in some ways and life is difficult for minority groups, women and the political opposition.

Mass protests which broke out in January over the economy and fuel prices were openly encouraged by the US State Department. On several occasions those riots turned violent as anti-government groups targeted police stations and other state institutions.

Yemen

In April, the war in Yemen became the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The United Nations continues to work to bring attention to a conflict that has gone on for years and left millions without water as well as at risk of cholera and starvation. According to the Red Cross, there are more than a million suspected cholera cases in Yemen, and "more than 80% of the population lack food, fuel, clean water and access to health care."

Neighboring Saudi Arabia, supported heavily by the US, launched military operations and intense airstrikes in Yemen, including in civilian areas. Saudi forces have also blockaded Yemeni ports, preventing vital supplies reached the country's besieged population.

Libya

Libyans emerged from years of isolation in 2003 when then-leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi agreed to abandon his nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief. Whatever economic stability they might derived from oil wealth in the years that followed was obliterated in 2011, when the Arab Spring took hold in the country, resulting in Gadhafi's brutal death and the fall of his regime.

Much of the country has devolved into chaos, with mass killings and open air slave markets.  Thousands have fled, joining a flood of refugees from other African countries crossing the Mediterranean into Europe, further straining countries already seeing an influx of people trying to escape the conflict in Syria.

Somalia

One of the world's poorest countries, Somalia descended into civil war after dictator Mohammed Siad Barre's ouster in 1991.

Now, after two-and-a-half decades of conflict, much of the country's governance structure, economic infrastructure, and institutions, have been destroyed, the World Bank reports.

Government security forces, African Union troops and allied militias have been responsible for indiscriminate attacks, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests and detention, according to Human Rights Watch, adding that restrictions on access to aid organizations have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis there.