War leaves Syrian children to bear brunt of disabilities, death

Introduction

Syrian war that has been ongoing for over a decade has caused the number of children with disabilities, who are victims of war and its remnants, to surge, stripping hundreds of thousands of them the right to normal life as they have had amputated parts due to shelling between parties to the conflict, and left behind war remnants, and let alone those ordnance the parties plant on purpose and widely spread across Syria.

Hundreds of these children with special disabilities have borne permanent sufferings due to renewable pains and challenges, separating themselves from their peers and hiding in shadows amidst societal violations and negligence, in addition to lacking basic rights and humanitarian assistance.

On the World Children’s Day, set on Nov. 20, it is of great importance to shed light to the spiking number of children with disabilities resulted from the war, their sufferings in light of lack of efforts for rehabilitation added to the negligence of relevant authorities.

The total toll of child victims of war has reached 679 since early 2023, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press Agency.

250 children of the aforementioned toll were killed and 429 others were injured. Indiscriminate shelling and war remnants, which were the cause for the bigger number, killed and left 418 children with severe injuries and disabilities, of them 155 were killed and 263 others were injured.

Children are war victims

Children with special disabilities, who sustained injuries due to war, bear the brunt of marginalization and negligence by humanitarian organizations and the ruling authorities the same, societal pressure, and problems related to acceptance by the society. 

These children, amid the ongoing war, endure high distress related to making their ends meet, and lack of basic rights, medical care, health insurance, necessary medications, psychological support, and the right to education. They also witness real difficulty due to the scarcity of specialized centers and supporters.

Centers that provide service for these children across Syria are very few and do not cover the need amid growing numbers.

Meanwhile, a long wait is required before receiving prostheses, wheelchairs, and other medical equipment from associations and centers of the civil society organizations. In light of poverty and deteriorating economy in the country, some children are unable to receive the required health care, especially in private centers due to high costs.

Weakness of authorities and mine clearance organizations regarding removing or even locating places of landmines in areas that used to be conflict arenas in the past result in the killing and injury of individuals, most of children, every year.

For the sake of buying copper included within a landmine to secure living for his family, the 11-year-old Ibrahim al-Khalaf had his figures amputated while trying to dismantle it in east of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria.

Ra’ed Rashed al-Hamada, 11 years old, had his hand amputated in a landmine explosion while tending sheep in the town of Baghuz, east of Deir ez-Zor.

Abdo Henifi, five-year-old child from Kobani, had his leg amputated during indiscriminate shelling by Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition factions, aka as The Syrian National Army (SNA). A shell fell near Henifi’s family house in the village of Qaramogh.

While talking about his son’s psychology, Henifi’s father said his son cries and fears when hearing voices, and the disability further would prevent him from playing football, his favorite.

“He just watches his friends playing,” the father added.

Hundreds of thousands of children, just like al-Khalaf, al-Hamada, and Henifi, across Syria have been forced to give up half the way and abandon their dreams due to the continued reckless disregard for their lives, civilians’ safety and their locations by the conflicting parties.

Recommendations

• Authorities, humanitarian organizations, and parties specialized in relevant fields should pay focused efforts in locating explosives and exert double work to remove all types of war remnants, in addition to launching awareness campaigns regarding the risk of mines and unexploded war remnants by introducing people to ways enable them to know and deal with them, aiming at enhancing protection, safety, and stability in the region.
• Centers and local authorities concerned with issues of people with special disabilities should coordinate together for covering all disabilities, especially in children since the biggest number of disabilities in Syria is of children, providing them with the necessary services, boosting health infrastructures, and securing health-care services for children.
• Humanitarian parties and international organizations should enhance humanitarian access, provide the required support and resources to improve conditions of the children with special disabilities in the country through finding opportunities in the matter of education by ensuring their right to quality education, securing learning environments that suit their disabilities.
• Both Local and international humanitarian organizations should double efforts in term of rehabilitating children with physical and psychological disabilities by offering them therapeutic services, securing modern medical technologies and the required equipment to improve their lives such as physical therapy sessions, and programs for psychosocial support, as well as, workshops to foster creativity and art in this segment of people.