The community gets together to repair a school in the city of Saraqib, located south of Idlib, that was destroyed by bombing during the Assad regime. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Oct 16 2025 (IPS)

The war has deprived thousands of Syrian children of their right to education, especially displaced children in makeshift camps. Amidst difficult economic conditions and the inability of many families to afford educational costs, the future of these children is under threat.

Adel Al-Abbas, a 13-year-old boy from Aleppo, northern Syria, was forced to quit his education after being displaced from his city and moving to a camp on the Syrian-Turkish border. He says, “I was chasing my dream like any other child, but my family’s poverty and the harsh circumstances stood in my way and destroyed all my dreams.”

Adel had hoped to become an engineer, but he left school and gave up on his goal. He replaced books and pens with work tools to help his impoverished family secure life’s necessities. He adds, “We are living in extremely difficult conditions today; we can’t even afford food. So, I have to find a job to survive and help my family, especially after my father was hit by shrapnel in the head, which caused him a permanent disability.”

Adel’s mother is saddened by her son’s situation, saying to IPS, “We need the income my son brings in after my husband got sick and became unable to provide for our family. In any case, work is better than an education that is now useless after he’s been out of school for so long and has fallen behind his peers.”

Reem Al-Diri, an 11-year-old, left school after her family was displaced from rural Damascus to the city of Idlib in northern Syria. Explaining why, she speaks with a clear sense of regret: “I loved school very much and was one of the top students in my class, but my family decided I had to stop my education to help my mom with the housework.”

The young girl confirms that she watches children on their way to school every morning, and she wishes she could go with them to complete her education and become a teacher in the future.

Reem’s mother, Umayya Al-Khalid, justifies her daughter’s absence from school, saying, “After we moved to a camp on the outskirts of Idlib, the schools became far from where we live. We also suffer from a lack of security and the widespread kidnapping of girls. So, I feared for my daughter and preferred for her to stay at home.”

Causes of school dropout

Akram Al-Hussein, a school principal in Idlib, northern Syria, speaks about the school dropout crisis in the country.

“School dropouts are one of the most serious challenges facing society. The absence of education leads to an unknown future for children and for the entire community.”

Al-Hussein emphasizes that relevant authorities and the international community must exert greater efforts to support education and ensure it does not remain a distant dream for children who face poverty and displacement.

He adds, “The reasons and motivations for children dropping out of school vary, ranging from conditions imposed by war—such as killings, displacement, and forced conscription-to child labor and poverty. Other factors include frequent displacement and the child’s inability to settle in one place during the school year, as well as a general lack of parental interest in education and their ignorance of the risks of depriving a child of schooling.”

In this context, the Syria Response Coordinators team, a specialized statistics group in Syria, noted in a statement that the number of out-of-school children in Syria has reached more than 2.5 million, with northwestern Syria alone accounting for over 318,000 out-of-school children, with more than 78,000 of them living in displacement camps. Of this group, 85 percent are engaged in various occupations, including dangerous ones.

In a report dated June 12, 2024, the team identified the key reasons behind the widening school dropout crisis.

A shortage of schools relative to the population density, a shift towards private education, difficult economic conditions, a lack of local government laws to prevent children from entering the labor market, displacement and forced migration, and a marginalized education sector with insufficient support from both local and international humanitarian organizations are seen as the causes.

The team’s report warned that if this trend continues, it will lead to the emergence of an uneducated, illiterate generation. This generation will be consumers rather than producers, and as a result, these uneducated children will become a burden on society.

Initiatives to Restore Destroyed Schools

The destruction of schools in Syria has significantly contributed to the school dropout crisis. Throughout the years of war, schools were not spared from destruction, looting, and vandalism, leaving millions of children without a place to learn or in buildings unfit for education. However, with the downfall of the Assad regime, several initiatives have been launched to restore these schools. This is seen as an urgent and immediate necessity for building a new Syria.

Samah Al-Dioub, a school principal in the northern Syrian city of Maarat al-Nu’man, says, “Syria’s schools suffered extensive damage from both the earthquake and the bombings. We have collected funds from the city’s residents and are now working on rehabilitating the school, but the need is still immense and the costs are very high, especially with residents returning to the city.” She explained that their current focus is on surveying schools and prioritizing which ones need renovation the most.

Engineer Mohammad Hannoun, director of school buildings at the Syrian Ministry of Education, states that approximately 7,400 schools across Syria were either partially or completely destroyed. They have restored 156 schools so far.

Hannoun adds, “We are working to rehabilitate schools in all Syrian regions, aiming to equip at least one school in every village or city to welcome returning students. The Ministry of Education, along with local and international organizations and civil society, are all contributing to these restoration efforts.”

Hannoun points out that the extensive damage to school buildings harms both teachers and students. It leads to a lack of basic educational resources, puts pressure on the few schools that are still functional, and causes a large number of students to drop out, which ultimately impacts the quality of the educational process.

As part of their contingency plans, Hannoun explains that the ministry, in collaboration with partner organizations, intends to activate schools with the available resources to accommodate children returning from camps and from asylum countries. This effort is particularly focused on affected areas that have experienced massive waves of displacement.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in 2025, 16.7 million people, including 7.5 million children, are in need of humanitarian support in the country, with 2.45 million children out of school, and 2 million children are at risk of malnutrition.

The phenomenon of school dropouts has become a crisis threatening Syria’s children, who have been forced by circumstances to work to earn a living for their families. Instead of being in a classroom to build their futures, children are struggling to survive in an environment left behind by conflict and displacement.

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Salem Diab experiences many difficulties since he lost his leg during the Syrian civil war. Credit: Sonia al-Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Apr 17 2025 (IPS)

The Syrian war has left countless Syrians with devastating injuries, ranging from limb amputations and burns to the loss of sensory functions. These injuries have profoundly impacted their lives, compounded by the limited attention and support they receive from civil society organizations.

Salam al-Hassan, 43, from Saraqib, south of Idlib city, lost both her legs in 2023 when a warplane missile exploded nearby. Since that devastating day, her life has been irrevocably altered, marked by months of arduous treatment and rehabilitation until she could walk again with prosthetic limbs. Yet, standing and moving remain a significant struggle.

“I exist on the fringes of life, overshadowed by the scarcity of treatment centers. While I was fortunate enough to receive prosthetics, I know countless other amputees who can only dream of obtaining them due to their prohibitive costs. This is compounded by the fact that many hospitals and health centers have been forced to suspend operations due to the cessation of vital support and funding,” says Al-Hassan.

Children, Victims Too

Countless Syrian children have also fallen victim to the ravages of war, sustaining injuries that have led to disabilities or the amputation of limbs. These children now face the daunting reality of living with permanent physical impairments—a burden exacerbated by the deteriorating state of healthcare services and the scarcity of essential medical supplies needed to address their unique needs.

According to UNICEF, approximately 900 children in Syria lost their lives or were injured in 2020 alone. This grim figure brings the total number of child casualties—deaths and injuries—since the beginning of the war to around 13,000. This staggering number represents approximately one-third of the total recorded injuries and deaths, leaving a multitude of children to grapple with lifelong disabilities.

Salem Al-Diyab, a 14-year-old displaced child from the city of Ma’arat al-Nu’man in the southern Idlib countryside, now resides in a camp in the town of Qah, near the Syrian-Turkish border. He sits at the entrance of his tent, watching other children in the camp as they head to school. The Syrian war has not only claimed a part of his body but has also imposed a life of disability upon him and deprived him of continuing his education.

Reflecting on his ordeal, Salem says, “My amputated leg has made me a target for bullying and mockery by my peers, which is why I stopped going to school. My left leg was amputated in late 2019 after I was struck by shrapnel from a warplane while on my way to the market to buy some necessities.”

Facing a healthcare deficit, the child found himself waiting a full year after his wound healed to receive a poor-quality prosthetic limb from a charity. This delay, attributed to the overwhelming number of patients and limited financial resources, underscores the dire circumstances.

“My son requires frequent prosthetic replacements to accommodate his growth and movement. This means he constantly needs to adapt and train with a new limb,” Salem’s mother, Alia Al-Diyab, explains. “Moreover, living below the poverty line forces us to seek out charitable organizations that provide prosthetics for free, as we cannot afford the USD 500 to USD 1,000 cost for a single artificial limb.”

Difficulty of Living With a Disability

Disability has become a difficult turning point in the lives of many affected Syrians, as they require assistance in all aspects of their lives and have lost hope of living normally.

Young Hadeel Al-Abdo, 17, from the northern Aleppo countryside, was struck by shrapnel from a shell fired by Syrian regime checkpoints in January 2021. The shrapnel hit her spinal cord, leaving her confined to a wheelchair. She needs to replace her manual wheelchair with an electric one to ease her movement and save some of the time she spends traveling to school.

“I was with my friend in front of the house when a shell fell close to us. One of the shrapnel pieces killed my friend, while another caused my paralysis. I now have to rely on a wheelchair for mobility.”

Al-Abdo says that she goes to school every day and hopes to become a doctor to alleviate the pain of the sick and war-injured. She explains that she constantly needs assistance, and her older brother accompanies her to and from school.

At first she preferred to be isolated from others. However, with encouragement from her mother and brother, she has ventured out into life and gradually begun to adapt to her disability and new situation.

Al-Abdo points out that her dream is to be able to walk, run, and live like everyone else, but she knows very well that achieving this dream has become impossible.

“I feel sad for myself when I see my friends walking and running, while I am limited to just watching them,” she adds.

Dr. Marwan Al-Hamoud, a general surgeon from the Syrian city of Homs, says, “The Syrian war wounded live amidst suffering from disability and deteriorating living conditions, facing material, social, and behavioral difficulties that prevent them from actively participating in society.”

Al-Hamoud adds that the injured and wounded are the most affected by the bloody war. “They live with their pain while still alive. Some of them have lost parts of their bodies and now rely on prosthetics or wheelchairs.”

Al-Hamoud points out that the injured need a great deal of help and assistance to alleviate their pain. They require well-equipped medical centers, as doctors often have to amputate the limbs of some patients due to the lack of necessary equipment for their treatment. Furthermore, the injured need psychological support to regain their self-confidence and efforts to secure job opportunities that suit their abilities, enabling them to play a near-normal role in society.

Psychological Scars

Psychological counselor Razan al-Barakat from the city of Idlib says disability also has psychological impacts.

“Disability does not stop at the physical level; rather, despair and frustration seep into the souls of many injured individuals when they feel different from others and unable to lead their lives normally,” al-Barakat says in an interview with IPS. “Those who are injured and have undergone amputations often feel a sense of inadequacy and helplessness, involuntarily relive memories of their injuries, and experience a lack of security and peace of mind, in addition to low self-confidence due to their need for others and dependence on them in most aspects of their lives.”

Al-Barakat emphasizes the necessity of providing psychological treatment to the injured person after their physical recovery to help them adapt to their injury and new situation. It is also crucial to sensitize society and relevant institutions about the need to care for this segment of the population that has been physically and psychologically harmed and to amplify their voices in the world to assist them and expedite their treatment.

On April 8, Human Rights Watch reported that 379 individuals have been injured by remnants of war since the fall of the regime on December 8, 2024.

A 2020 report by OCHA indicates that 36 percent of displaced Syrians are persons with disabilities. These displaced individuals with disabilities originate from areas that witnessed intense bombing by regime forces and their Russian allies, and they are distributed across northeastern and northwestern Syria.

In a report, the United Nations stated that 28 percent of Syrians inside the country are living with disabilities. This percentage includes intellectual and psychological disabilities, most of which resulted from physical injury or arose from the war conditions experienced by Syrians.

The Syrian war, which has lasted for more than 14 years, has left behind thousands of people with disabilities, often living on the margins of society, who find it difficult to access necessary services such as prosthetics, medical and psychological treatment, and rehabilitation.
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Syrian Civil Defense prepares to remove unexploded munitions of all shapes and types, including landmines. Credit: Sonia Alali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Feb 3 2025 (IPS)

When 42-year-old Amina al-Hassan’s family returned home after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, her son stood on a landmine.

Hassan, from Kafranbel in southern Idlib countryside, sits beside her son’s bed in the hospital after his leg was amputated following the explosion on agricultural land near their home.

“After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the expulsion of its elements from our city, we went to check on our house, while my son went to inspect the agricultural land near the house. He did not notice a landmine planted among the weeds and plants, and it exploded, amputating his leg,” she told IPS.

Explosive remnants of war and landmines are scattered haphazardly across Syria, endangering the lives of civilians, hindering the return of displaced persons to their cities and villages, and obstructing their agricultural work. The frequency of explosions caused by unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance has significantly increased following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the fading of the frontlines between the regime and the opposition, where mines and unexploded ordnance are widely dispersed.

“When I heard the explosion, I ran as fast as lightning towards the source of the sound. When I reached the explosion site, I tried to take out my son myself, but the people present at the scene prevented me from doing so. One of the engineering team specialists took charge of removing the mines around him and took him out, then we rushed him to the nearest hospital in the city,” she said, her voice tinged with sorrow.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed on January 14 that the deadly legacy of landmines and other explosives left behind by years of conflict in Syria had killed more than 100 children in December alone, urging the international community to urgently support mine clearance projects across the country.

According to the Syria Response Coordinators team, the war remnants left by the former Syrian regime continue to claim the lives of Syrians. Since December 8, 2024, explosions of mines and cluster munitions in more than 108 locations in Syria have killed 109 people, including 9 children and 6 women. More than 121 others were injured, including 48 children and one woman.

Rowan al-Kamal (46), from the western Aleppo countryside, visited her home after Syria was liberated from the Assad regime. Unlike many others, she was fortunate, not because her house was intact, but because she noticed an unexploded shell near the house. She recounts, “I moved my children away and called the Syrian Civil Defense, who worked to dismantle it. We were saved from death or injury.”

Kamal adds, “I don’t know how I spotted it amidst the rubble. When I saw it, I was rushing to check what remained of the house. I think my eyes have become accustomed to recognizing shells, as we lived with them throughout the long years of war.”

She reveals that she won’t be able to return to her home due to the presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance, despite living in a makeshift camp with her family of seven and facing extremely harsh conditions, especially with the significant drop in temperatures and the inability of humanitarian organizations to provide the displaced with necessary supplies such as food and heating.

While Kamal and her family survived injury or death, Wael al-Ahmad (22), from Has town in southern Idlib, lost his life after his city was liberated. His mother, Fatima al-Ahmad, recounts, “My son was tending to the sheep on the outskirts of the town and stepped on a landmine without noticing it, causing him severe injuries. He passed away hours later due to his injuries.”

Ahmad calls for intensified efforts to remove these remnants to prevent further casualties and ensure the safe return of the displaced. “The war remnants planted by the Syrian regime and its allies represent a delayed death for Syrians, as they threaten lives and prevent civilians from returning to their homes and farms,” she says tearfully.

Mohammed al-Saeed (32), who works on a war remnants removal team at the Syrian Civil Defense, explains, “War remnants are unexploded munitions of all shapes and types that remain in an area after the end of a war.”

He adds, “War remnants pose a real threat to Syrians in various parts of the country. They are divided into unexploded ordnance such as bombs, rockets, and shells, in addition to landmines.”

Al-Saeed clarifies that the first type is easier to remove and avoid because it can be seen and is usually found above ground. However, the biggest challenge lies in landmines that people cannot see.

Saeed further explained that Syrian government forces planted hundreds of thousands of mines in various regions of Syria, particularly in agricultural lands, military barracks, and frontline areas between the regime and the opposition. He warned that anyone returning to their town, home, or land should be aware that there may be unexploded ordnance present.

According to Saeed, Syrian Civil Defense teams conducted 822 operations to dispose of unexploded ordnance in northwestern Syria between November 27, 2024, and January 3, 2025.

He urged residents to be cautious of strange objects, to avoid touching or moving them, and to report them immediately. Meanwhile, Civil Defense engineering teams continue to conduct daily technical surveys of land contaminated with war remnants and work to dispose of munitions.

Saeed emphasized the need for the international community to work with the new Syrian government and coordinate with it to remove mines by providing funding to expand the Civil Defense’s capacity, hire more personnel, purchase more equipment, and operate in wider areas.

‘The former Syrian regime and its allied militias deliberately planted mines in vital areas, aiming to inflict the maximum number of civilian casualties. This long-term crime represents another facet of their brutal practices,” says Saeed.

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The people walk to Saydnaya prison to search for the detainees. Credit: Abdul Karem al-Mohammad/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Dec 16 2024 (IPS)

Detained without trial for over three years for trial for allegedly treating “terrorists” (as opponents of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were deemed), Alaa al-Khalil, a 33-year-old nurse from the Syrian city of Hama, recounts the agony of her time in a prison cell she shared with at least 35 women.

She was released from Aydnaya prison on December 8 after the fall of the Assad regime.

Following the fall of Assad’s regime and his escape to Moscow on December 8, armed opposition factions managed to open the doors of prisons, freeing hundreds of detainees who had endured the most horrific forms of torture for opposing Assad’s rule and demanding his removal from power. Many lost their lives within the prisons and were buried in mass graves, while the families of the detainees continue to search for their missing loved ones in the prisons of tyranny.

Years of Torture

“I was arrested at a security checkpoint belonging to the former Syrian regime and transferred to the Political Security Branch in Damascus—my hands were cuffed, and my eyes were blindfolded. In prison, we were 35 women in a small, cramped room with the toilet in the same room, without any privacy,” Khalil told IPS. “The marks of severe torture were clearly visible on some of the women. As for sleep, we would lie on the floor and take turns sleeping due to the very small size of the room. The most painful thing was that there were many pregnant women who gave birth to children who grew up inside the prison.”

The search for survivors in Sednaya prison. Credit: Abdul Karem al-Mohammad/IPS

During that time, she said the prisoners suffered from “hunger, cold, and all forms of torture, including beatings, burning with cigarettes, and nail pulling.”

Many of the female detainees were raped and exposed to sexual violence as a form of punishment. After midnight, the guards would come to the detainees’ room to select the most beautiful girls to take them to the officers’ rooms.

“We preferred torture and even death to rape. When a girl refused to have sex or confess to the charges against her during interrogation, she would be killed by the guards or interrogators, and her body would be thrown into the salt room, which was prepared in advance to preserve the bodies of the dead for as long as possible,” she said, tearfully remembering the daily trauma.

Khalil confirms that prisoners were not allowed to look at the guards, talk, or make any noise, even during torture. They were punished by being deprived of water or forced to sleep naked without covers in the freezing cold. The meals consisted of a few bites of spoilt food, and many people contracted serious infections, diseases, and mental disorders.

Now released, Khalil hopes to enjoy safety, stability, and peace in this country after years of oppression and injustice.

Adnan al-Ibrahim, 46, from the southern Syrian city of Daraa, was also released a few days ago from Adra prison on the outskirts of Damascus after spending over 10 years there on charges of defecting from Bashar al-Assad’s army and seeking asylum in Lebanon.

“I feel like I’m dreaming after being released from prison. They accused me of terrorism, subjected me to torture, and I was never brought before a court during my imprisonment. I’m still traumatized by what I endured,” Ibrahim says.

“We were subjected to the worst treatment imaginable in prisons. All we want now is the right to live a decent life, far from injustice, arbitrary arrests, and the ongoing killing in Syria.”

He is now emaciated and weak—his weight drastically reduced due to malnutrition and poor diet. Most of his fellow inmates suffered from life-threatening illnesses as a result of the torture they endured. Many inmates lost their memory due to being beaten on the head during interrogations, and the bodies of the dead remained for long periods before being removed. Many of these bodies were disposed of by burning.

Burdened by Psychological Prauma

Samah Barakat, a 33-year-old mental health specialist, says the survivors of Syrian detention centres will need help to overcome their traumas.

‘The experience of imprisonment and torture in prisons is painful and traumatic for survivors. Imprisonment is not limited to physical torture; the mental state is also affected. Prisoners were subjected to various forms of torture and oppression, leading to a significant deterioration in their mental health. These effects include a range of psychological disorders such as psychosis, memory loss, and speech impediments, in addition to the spread of diseases due to their deprivation of basic medical care.”

Barakat confirms that some detainees are likely to suffer from physical, psychological, and behavioural effects, accompanied by constant anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal.

She explains that survivors of detention need psychological support, which varies depending on the impact of the detention experience. Some need psychological counseling or therapy sessions with specialists, while others require medication prescribed by a psychiatrist due to depression or other mental illnesses.

An Unknown Fate

For some, the uncertainty of the fates of their loved ones means the trauma of the Asad regime lives on.

Alaa al-Omar, 52, from the northern Syrian city of Idlib, went to Saydnaya prison and the Palestine Branch in Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime, hoping to find his son, who had disappeared in the prison’s depths.

“I went to the prison with great longing, but I found no trace of my son. I think he died as a result of torture.”

Omar affirms that his son was arrested by the Assad regime forces in 2015 while studying at a university in Aleppo, accused of participating in demonstrations, carrying weapons, and joining the opposition factions.

Omar indicates he heard nothing from his son or about his son since his arrest, and his fate remains unknown even now.

Human Rights Violations

Human rights activist Salim Al-Najjar (41), from Aleppo, speaks about the suffering of survivors of detention and told IPS that the history of building prisons and expanding detention centers in Syria dated back to the rule of Hafez al-Assad, whose regime in the 1980s exercised excessive force against its opponents, turning the country into a “large slaughterhouse.”

“In the regime’s prisons, lives are as equal as stones in the hands of a sculptor, killed and discarded without regard or importance. In them, a person becomes a mere number, with their history, feelings, and even dreams that haunted them until the last moment of their lives ignored,” Najjar says.

Al-Najjar confirms the existence of many prisons in Syria, but the Saydnaya prison, located north of the Syrian capital Damascus, is known as the most prominent political detention center in Syria and was notorious for its horrific reputation as a site of torture and mass executions, especially after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011. Saydnaya prison was where Assad’s detained opponents or defectors from his army or those who rejected his “killing policy.”

He points out that few detainees were released through family connections or bribes, while the detainees were left to die from their untreated wounds and diseases in “dirty, overcrowded” cells.

He notes that many detainees emerged from behind bars suffering from a loss of their mental faculties, unable to remember their names or identify themselves, and due to the severe changes caused by malnutrition and brutal torture, their features had changed to the point that their families did not recognize them at first.

Najjar hopes to achieve justice for the victims by presenting evidence and documents to international courts and holding Assad and all perpetrators of violations in Syria accountable.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said in a statement on December 11 that Assad is accused of killing at least 202,000 Syrian civilians, including 15,000 killed under torture, the disappearance of 96,000 others, and the forced displacement of nearly 13 million Syrian citizens, as well as other heinous violations, including the use of chemical weapons.

“Syrian detention centers and torture chambers symbolize the agony, oppression, and suffering that Syrians have endured for decades. Survivors of detention continue to heal their wounds and strive to return to their normal lives and reintegrate into society. Sadly, a significant number of them have perished under torture.”

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Samah Al-Ibrahim is unable to provide milk for her child. Babies born to internally displaced families in the camps in the northern countryside of Idlib are desperate for a regular supply of food and milk supplements for their children. Credit: Sonia al-Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Oct 23 2024 (IPS)

Children in northern Syria are suffering from hunger, illness, and malnutrition as a result of poverty, poor living conditions for most families, and the collapse of purchasing power amid the soaring prices of all essential food commodities. Displacement and a lack of job opportunities make this worse.

Nour al-Hammoud, a 5-year-old girl whose family was displaced from Maarat al-Numan, south of Idlib, to a makeshift camp in the northern countryside of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border, suffers from acute malnutrition. She is extremely thin. 

“My daughter’s immunity is very weak; she suffers from stunted growth and constant illness. We cannot provide her with the nutrients she needs due to our poverty. My husband is unemployed because of a war injury, and humanitarian aid in this camp is almost nonexistent,” her mother, who did not want to be named, says.

The mother indicates that she took her daughter to a pediatrician at a health center more than 5 km from the camp, and the doctor confirmed that the girl was suffering from malnutrition and prescribed medication and supplements, but these haven’t yet made a difference. The mother confirmed that her daughter’s condition is deteriorating day by day, and she is helpless to do anything for her.

Samah al-Ibrahim, 33, from the city of Idlib, northern Syria, is also unable to afford formula milk for her 9-month-old baby, which has affected his growth and health. She says, “My husband works in construction all day for USD 3. We can barely afford our basic necessities, so we can’t buy milk on many days, especially since I can’t breastfeed due to malnutrition myself.”

Al-Ibrahim confirms that she relies on cooking starch with sugar or boiling rice to feed her son, as milk is not available daily.

As for Sanaa al-Barakat, 35, she has been living in a state of severe anxiety after discovering that her 2-year-old daughter, Rim, is suffering from acute malnutrition and stunted growth and it is critical she gets care immediately.

“The doctor diagnosed her with severe malnutrition, which caused brain atrophy and delayed the acquisition of motor skills. She also suffers from difficulty speaking as well as lethargy and refuses to play like other children. Additionally, she is introverted,” al-Barakat.

She said her daughter Rim is not the only one suffering from malnutrition, but all of her four children are as well, because she finds it very difficult to provide her children with the necessary food supplies. She often only manages to feed them one meal a day.

Dr. Nour Al-Abbas (39), a pediatrician from Sarmada, north of Idlib, speaks about malnutrition, saying, “It is a serious health condition where children suffer from a deficiency in the essential nutrients their bodies need, causing them symptoms and signs that vary in severity and danger.”

She confirms that a quarter of children in Idlib suffer from malnutrition due to not getting enough nutritious food due to a lack of and of dietary diversity, which makes them susceptible to disease and weakens their immune systems.”

The doctor explains that the number of children she receives at the health center where she works is increasing. Al-Abbas says the mothers are also often suffering from malnutrition. The conditions the families live in are a result of poverty as a result of displacement due to war, the large number of children in one family, and the inability of mothers to breastfeed.

The spread of infectious diseases among children and reliance on contaminated and unclean drinking water exacerbate the situation. Often the mothers continue attempting to cope without consulting a doctor and when they do finally seek health, the children’s condition is poor.

Al-Abbas points out that the groups most at risk of malnutrition are children after the breastfeeding period, i.e., from the age of 6 months to 6 years. However, some mothers are reluctant to breastfeed their children for several reasons, the most important of which is the mother’s suffering from malnutrition as well.

“Malnutrition has different symptoms, the most important of which are severe weakness and feeling constantly tired, in addition to the child not gaining weight and height with pale skin and yellowing, or the appearance of edema or continuous inflammatory conditions such as dermatitis or peeling around the lips or abdominal distension (bloating),” Al-Abbas says.

The doctor called for additional support from charities and NGOs in an effort to provide food and medicine through field visits to camps.

According to UNICEF estimates, 9 out of 10 children in Syria do not consume minimally acceptable diets, leading to stunting and wasting. As many as 506,530 children under the age of five in Idlib, Syria, and northern rural Aleppo urgently need treatment for acute malnutrition, and nearly 108,000 children suffer from severe wasting. Disease prevalence, a lack of food, and inadequate sanitation services all make the situation worse.

In addition, over 609,900 children under the age of five in Syria suffer from stunting, according to UNICEF estimates. Stunting results from chronic malnutrition and causes irreversible physical and cognitive damage in children. This impacts their ability to learn and their productivity in adulthood.

According to the “Syria Response Coordinators” team, which specializes in statistics in northwestern Syria, the percentage of families below the poverty line is 91.18 percent, while the percentage of families below the hunger line has reached 41.05 percent. All families residing in the region’s widespread camps have been classified as entirely below the poverty line.

Poverty, displacement, and inflation have increased the prevalence of malnutrition among Syrian children, stunting their growth due to the lack of sufficient essential nutrients for their bodies to grow, negatively impacting them and depriving them of their most basic rights.

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Sarah Al-Hassan lost her baby due to the lack of care in the camps. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Aug 22 2024 (IPS)

Pregnant women in northern Syria’s camps for internally displaced people fear about their health and the health of their unborn children because of a lack of basic medical care and a healthy diet. These conditions exacerbate the illnesses and challenges faced by women, particularly amid the region’s widespread poverty, food insecurity, and the remoteness of hospitals and health centers from the camps.

Pregnant women in the camps are susceptible to anemia, malnutrition, and giving birth to stunted children if they survive. The delay in obtaining care poses a significant health risk to both pregnant women and their infants.

Fatima Al-Aboud, a 26-year-old displaced woman living in the Ma’arat Misrin camp north of Idlib, is six months pregnant and suffering from severe anemia, which threatens both her health and that of her fetus.

“The doctor told me that I need to eat a balanced diet in sufficient quantities throughout my pregnancy to maintain my health and that of my fetus, but poverty and high prices have made me unable to buy fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and proteins. I am also unable to afford the necessary medications for pregnant women.”

Al-Aboud does not hide her fear of giving birth to a child in poor health due to malnutrition or of her labor starting without a car available to transport her to the hospital, especially since the road between the camp and health centers is poor and rugged and it is more than five kilometers away.

Pregnant women face health risks in the camps. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

“I have many fears, as there are no comfortable places to sit or sleep inside the tent, and I cannot get physical rest during pregnancy. As a pregnant woman, I do not have a private space or clean toilets,” Al-Aboud told IPS.

The health risks faced by pregnant women increase due to the distance of health centers and hospitals from the camps, exposing them to the risk of miscarriage and even death during childbirth, along with the possibility of premature births.

The Syria Response Coordinators team, which specializes in gathering information and statistics in the areas of northwestern Syria, reports that more than 87 percent of the camps suffer from a lack of medical points and mobile clinics, and there are difficulties in transporting patients to nearby hospitals, knowing that the financial condition of most of the displaced is very poor and they are unable to secure the necessary treatment for any medical condition without exception.

Sara Al-Hassan, a 31-year-old displaced woman in a makeshift camp north of Syria near the Turkish border and a mother of three, lost her baby during childbirth.

“I started labor after midnight, and due to the distance of the hospitals from the camp and the lack of transportation, I relied on a nurse who lived nearby.”

She says that her delivery was difficult, and her baby was in critical condition and urgently needed an incubator. While being transported to a hospital, the baby passed away.

Al-Hassan confirms that she no longer wants to have children and relies on contraception to avoid repeating the experience of pregnancy and childbirth within the camps. She added that her life in the tent is harsh, as she lacks clean drinking water, bathing water, and food. She wouldn’t be able to provide for the needs of newborn babies as there is a significant shortage of personal hygiene items.

“Stress, anxiety, and overthinking dominate my life, and I feel helpless towards my three children who are living in difficult conditions, but despite that, I try my best to take care of their cleanliness and provide for their needs,” Al-Hassan says.

Dr. Ola Al-Qudour, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology from Idlib city in northwestern Syria, talks about the suffering of pregnant women in northern Syria’s camps.

“Thousands of Syrian pregnant women live in camps in harsh conditions, as most of them cannot provide the necessities of food and medicine. Malnutrition leads to health problems that affect both the pregnant woman and the fetus and exposes the mother to a decrease in milk after childbirth, making her unable to breastfeed her child.”

Al-Qudour points out that the lack of hospitals within the camps increases the suffering of pregnant women, forcing most cases to move outside, confirming that displaced women live in tents made of cloth, and those who give birth in the hospital often return to the tent after only a few hours due to hospital congestion, knowing that the first 24 hours after childbirth are the most critical in terms of complications, so it is important to keep the mother in the hospital for as long as possible.

She confirms that low levels of hygiene make pregnant women more susceptible to influenza due to a decrease in their immunity, and that pregnant women who don’t get enough sleep can also expose them to early labor as well as affect the growth of the child after birth. She also indicates that non-sterile home births increase the risk of infection in newborns and mothers.

The doctor emphasizes the need to provide healthcare services for pregnant women and newborns in the camps, including regular medical check-ups and early diagnosis of any health problems, and providing the necessary care and nutrition for mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and afterwards.

With the continuation of the war and displacement, more than two million people still reside in camps in northwestern Syria, including 604,000 women.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says as many as “660 camps (44 percent of over 1,500 camps) across Idleb and northern Aleppo do not have water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support, affecting over 907,000 people. Half of them are children.”

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Children eating and drinking at the Children's House in Idlib. Abandoned children is a growing issue in the region. Credit: Sonia Al-Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Mar 27 2024 (IPS)

Wael Al-Hassan was returning from work in the Syrian city of Harim when he heard the sound of a baby crying.

He was returning from work on December 10, 2023. He stopped momentarily, turned on his mobile phone flashlight to investigate, and spotted a baby girl, around one month old, wrapped in a white blanket, lying by the roadside.

He felt saddened by the infant’s condition and said, “She was crying loudly, and I saw scratches on her face from cat or dog claws. I then carried her in my arms and took her home, where my wife breastfed her, changed her clothes, and took care of her.”

The phenomenon of abandoning newborns is increasing in northern Syria, where individuals leave their newborns in public parks or alongside roads, then leave the area. Passersby later find the infants, some of them dead from hunger or cold.

Al-Hassan said that the next morning, he handed the baby girl over to the police to search for her family and relatives.

Social Rejection

Social worker Abeer Al-Hamoud from the city of Idlib, located in northern Syria, attributes the primary reason for some families abandoning their children to the widespread poverty and high population density in the province. Additionally, there is fear of the security situation (the area is not in the control of the Syrian regime and is often under attack), the prevalence of divorces, and spouses abandoning their families after traveling abroad.

Al-Hamoud also points out another reason, which is the spread of the phenomenon of early marriage and marrying girls to foreign fighters who came from their countries to Syria to participate in combat. Under pressure from their families, wives often have to abandon their children after their husband’s death, sudden disappearance, or return to their homeland, especially when they are unable to care for them or provide for them financially. Moreover, these children have no proper documentation of parentage.

Furthermore, Al-Hamoud mentions another reason, which is some women are raped, leading them to abandon their newborns out of fear of punishment from their families or societal stigma.

Al-Hamoud warns that the number of abandoned children is increasing and says there is an urgent need to find solutions to protect them from exploitation, oppression, and societal discrimination they may face. She emphasizes that the solutions lie in returning displaced persons to their homes, improving living conditions for families, raising awareness among families about the importance of family planning, and launching campaigns to integrate these children into society.

Alternative Families

It’s preferable for members of the community to accept these children into their families, but they face difficulties in registering the births.

Thirty-nine-year-old Samaheer Al-Khalaf from the city of Sarmada in northern Idlib province, Syria, sponsored a newborn found abandoned at a park gate, and she welcomed him into her family.

She says, “After 11 years of marriage to my cousin, we were not blessed with children, so we decided to raise a child found in the city at the beginning of 2022.”

Al-Khalaf observes that the Islamic religion’s prohibition on “adoption” prevents her from registering the child under her name in the civil registry. Additionally, she cannot go to areas controlled by the Syrian regime to register him due to the presence of security barriers.

She says, “I fear for this child’s future because he will remain of unknown lineage. He will live deprived of his civil rights, such as education and healthcare, and he won’t be able to obtain official documents.”

Children’s House Provides Assistance

With the increasing numbers of children of unknown parentage, volunteers have opened a center to receive and care for the children abandoned by their families.

Younes Abu Amin, the director of Children’s House, says, “A child of unknown parentage is one who was found and whose father is unknown, or children whose parentage has not been proven and who have no provider.”

“The organization ‘Children’s House’ opened a center to care for children separated from their families and children of unknown parentage in the city of Sarmada, north of Idlib,” says Abu Amin. “The number of registered children in the center has reached 267, ranging in age from one day to 18 years. Some have been placed with foster families, while others currently reside in the center, receiving all their needs, including shelter, food, education, and healthcare.”

Upon arrival at the center, Abu Amin notes that the center registers each child in its records, transfers them to the shelter department, and makes efforts to locate their original family or relatives and send them to them or to find a foster family to provide them with a decent life.

Abu Amin explains that the center employs 20 staff members who provide children with care, psychological support, and education. They work to create a suitable environment for the children and support them psychologically to help with emotional support.

He emphasizes that the center survives on individual donations to cover its expenses – which are scarce. There is an urgent need for sufficient support, as the children require long-term care, especially newborns.

A young girl Marah (8) and her brother, Kamal (10), lost their father in the war. Their mother remarried, leaving them to live in a small tent with their grandfather, who forces them to beg and sell tissues, often leaving them without food for days.

Consequently, they decided to escape from home. Kamal says, “We used to sleep outdoors, overwhelmed by fear, cold, and hunger, until someone took us to the child center.”

Upon reaching the center, they returned to their studies, played with other children, and each other, just like children with families.

Kamal expresses his wish, “I hope to continue my education with my sister so we can rely on ourselves and escape from a life of injustice and deprivation.”

These children, innocent of any wrongdoing, are often left to fend for themselves, bearing the brunt of war-induced poverty, insecurity, homelessness, instability, and early marriage.

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Earthquake orphans are cared for at the Kuramaa Center in the Idlib Governorate, Northern Syria. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDILIB, SYRIA, Oct 13 2023 (IPS)

Seven-year-old Salim al-Bakkar was orphaned in the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, 2023.

Saved by members of the civil defense team who pulled him from the rubble, doctors had to amputate his left leg – which had been crushed in the 7.7 magnitude quake that killed more than 55,000 people and destroyed at least 230,000 buildings. 

Salim, from Jenderes, north of Aleppo, Syria, was pulled from the rubble but, suffering from crush syndrome, had his leg amputated.

His only surviving relative, his grandmother Farida al-Bakkar, tells IPS of the pain and the sadness of caring for her grandchild.

“When my grandson woke up and saw me, he asked me about his mother, but I could not tell him that his mother and father had died because he was devastated.”

Salim is not alone; thousands of children survived without their families and now experience loneliness, psychological stress, and physical pain.

Even seven months after the earthquake, the fear Salim felt that day has remained engraved in his memory, according to his grandmother.

Dr Kamal Al-Sattouf, from Idlib, in northern Syria, says the earthquake resulted in many diseases.

“Thousands of buildings were completely and partially destroyed as a result of the earthquake, while the infrastructure of water and sanitation networks in the regions was damaged, increasing the risk of epidemics and infectious diseases such as cholera.”

The doctor stressed the spread of respiratory diseases, such as lung infections, especially among children and the elderly, and diarrhea of all kinds, viral and bacterial, cholera, and malaria, due to vectors spreading among the rubble, such as mosquitoes, flies, mice, and rodents.

Al-Sattouf said that people pulled alive from the rubble were often also affected by what is known as ‘crush syndrome.’ The hospital where he works received many cases, the severity of which is often related to the time the survivors spent under the rubble, usually made up of heavy cement blocks.

According to the doctor, crush syndrome results when force or compression from the collapsed buildings cuts off blood circulation to parts of the body or the limbs.

Psychological Impacts

A 10-year-old girl, Salma Al-Hassan, from Harem, in northern Syria, keeps asking to visit her old house destroyed by the earthquake. This was where she lost her mother and her sister.

Her father explains: “My daughter suffers from a bad psychological condition that is difficult to overcome. With panic attacks, fear, and continuous crying, she refuses to believe that her mother and sister are dead.”

He points out that his daughter became withdrawn after she witnessed the horrors of the earthquake. She loves to be alone and refuses to talk to others. She also refuses to go to school.

He and his daughter were extracted alive from under the rubble more than 8 hours after the earthquake.

Dalal Al-Ali, a psychological counselor from Sarmada, Northern Syria, told IPS: “Many people who survived the earthquake disaster, especially children, still suffer from anxiety disorders and depression, which is one of the problems. Symptoms of this disorder are persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loss of interest in activities, and changes in appetite and sleep patterns.”

She pointed out that the child victims of the earthquake urgently need psychosocial support in addition to life-saving aid, including clean water, sanitation, nutrition, necessary medical supplies, and mental health support for children, both now and in the long term.

Al-Ali stresses the need to provide an atmosphere of safety and comfort for children and to establish a sense of security and protection by moving them to a safe place as far as possible from the site of danger, in addition to providing group therapy and individual therapy sessions for parents, as well as for children, to help them overcome anxiety, and allow them to express their feelings by practicing sports and the arts.

She confirms that children need more attention than adults in overcoming the impacts of the earthquake because children saw their whole world collapse before their eyes and continue to feel the trauma acutely.

Victims of Earthquake, also Victims of Syrian Conflict

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, in a report published earlier this year, said it had documented the deaths of 6,319 Syrians due to the earthquake.

Of these, 2,157 victims were killed in areas of Syria not under the control of the Syrian regime and 321 in areas controlled by the Syrian regime. regime, while 3,841 Syrian refugees died in Turkey.

The group stressed the need to investigate the reason for the delays in the response of the United Nations and the international community because this led to more preventable deaths of Syrian people – and those responsible for the delays should be held accountable.

The network says the high death toll was in a highly populated area because of internal displacement due to conflict within the Syrian regime.

Even more tragically, the report adds, these traumatized people had to live through the horrors of indiscriminate bombing by the Syrian regime in the IDP camps in which they live.

With the aim of caring for the earthquake orphans in Idlib Governorate, Northern Syria, the (Basmat Nour) Foundation opened the Kuramaa Center to take care of the children.

The director of the Kuramaa Center, Muhammad Al-Junaid, says to IPS: “Many children lost their families and loved ones during the devastating earthquake, so we opened this center that provides care for orphaned children, and provides all their educational requirements, psychological support activities, and entertainment.

There are now 52 children at the center, which can take up to 100.

Al-Junaid added: “The staff work hard to put a smile on the children’s faces, and our goal is to make them forget the pain that they cannot bear and take care of them by all possible means to live a normal life in a family.”

Eight-year-old Fatima Al-Hassan, from Idlib, lost her entire family in the earthquake. She lives in the center and has found tenderness and care.

“I spend my time teaching, drawing, and playing with my peers in the care home.”

But Fatima still remembers her family with love and sadness.
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