A young girl named Salam. The victim of a war she doesn’t understand.
The Child Victims of the Syrian Conflict
Humanity & Inclusion
(March 15, 2021) — Salam was 5 when she was picking ripe olives with her family in Syria and something metallic caught her eye. She reached down to pick it up.
You know where this story is headed …. It was a bomb.
The explosion instantly killed Salam’s little brother, who was carrying water back from a well. The blast injured her parents and four other siblings. Salam’s injuries were so grave that doctors had to amputate her left leg.
Stories like Salam’s are all too common in Syria, where 11.5 million people live in areas contaminated by landmines and other explosive weapons. Booby traps, improvised landmines and explosive remnants heavily contaminate Syria. Children are particularly exposed. Some hazards are easy to spot. Others sit waiting for a trigger from a booby trap. [Read Salam’s story below — EAW]
Today Marks Ten Unjust Years of Conflict in Syria
The conflict is still alive. Civilians continue to be caught in the crossfire or traumatized by bombings. Cities and public infrastructure are destroyed. The economy is devastated. Millions of people are displaced within Syria. Millions more live as refugees in neighboring countries.
It will take at least two generations to rebuild Syria, according to Emmanuel Sauvage, Director of Armed Violence Reduction at Humanity & Inclusion. [See story below — EAW]
Maybe Salam’s future grandchildren will enjoy a safe Syria. But she won’t walk safely amid the olive trees again until she’s an older woman, if at all.
Humanity & Inclusion donors don’t just see this injustice. They respond. The result is that care has reached 1.8 million Syrians like Salam across six countries.
So far, our supporters have made it possible for Humanity & Inclusion teams to: • • Teach more than 1.4 million Syrians to spot, avoid and report the weapons they find;
• Provide food, essential household items or simply cash to more than 300,000 people;
• Offer physical rehabilitation to 180,000 people;
• Administer psychosocial support and other mental health services to 62,000 Syrians;
• Distribute prosthetics and orthotics to 14,000 people with disabilities or injuries.
The work must continue so that children like Salam and her siblings can live in safety.
While Picking Olives, Salam Touched a Piece of Metal. It Was a Bomb
(March 15, 2021) — One day in October 2015, 5-year-old Salam was in the field with her family picking ripe olives when she noticed a strange piece of metal on the ground. She thought she might be able to use it to carve pictures on rocks. It was a bomb.
The cluster munition had been thrown from an aircraft during the Syria conflict and, by design, had not exploded on impact but would when touched. It was the kind of bomblet that tends to explode diagonally.
The explosion killed Salam’s little brother, who was carrying water back from the well, instantly. Salam, her parent, and four other siblings were also injured.
The Red Cross rushed Salam to a medical facility in Jordan for emergency surgery. Her left leg and a toe on her right foot were amputated.
A Long Path to Recovery
Salam was first assessed by Humanity & Inclusion in 2015 in the Za’atri refugee camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. Separated from her parents in Syria, the young girl spent months alone until relatives living in Jordan were found.
After surgery, Salam worked closely with a Humanity & Inclusion physical therapist and a psychosocial support worker. To strengthen her injured right leg, Salam began to walk with the help of a frame. Then, she learned to walk with an artificial limb. Five years later, Salam’s prosthetic leg is routinely replaced as she continues to grow.
Salam experienced significant psychological trauma, becoming extremely timid and self-conscious after the blast. She refused to play with other children. Through occupational therapy and psychosocial support, Humanity & Inclusion helped Salam rebuild her confidence and encouraged her to interact with others.
Her New life in Jordan
Salam’s Jordanian relatives welcomed her and continue to take care of her. She now lives in Irbid with an extended family of 10 adopted brothers and sisters. She attends school, where she works hard and is frequently top of her class. She loves drawing princesses. Her adoptive father is grateful for Humanity & Inclusion’s support.
“We used to carry her to school before receiving the prosthetic leg and now she can easily walk to go to school,” he says. He has also seen a big difference in Salam’s confidence and happiness when playing with friends.
Salam dreams of becoming a doctor when she grows up and says she would love to make artificial limbs for other children.
Salam waits while a physical therapist fits her with a new prosthetic leg.
Back in Syria
Too traumatized by what happened, Salam does not want to return to Syria, even to reunite with her parents and siblings. Her birth family believes she has better access to treatment and education in Jordan.
March 15 marks 10 years in conflict in Syria. Over the last decade, explosive weapons have been massively used in populated areas contaminating land across the country. Major cities like Raqqa, Aleppo and Homs have been destroyed by large-scale and intense bombing. Many of these weapons leave dangerous remnants or fail to explode on impact, remaining dangerous years after combat.
Today, 11.5 million people in Syria live in areas contaminated by explosive hazards.
Between 2011 and 2018 there were 79,206 recorded casualties from explosive weapons, 87% of which were civilians. While all population groups are at risk, children – especially boys, agricultural workers and people on the move are particularly vulnerable to being injured or killed by an anti-personnel landmine or explosive remnant of war.
Humanity & Inclusion and the Syria crisis
Since the organization began its response to the Syria crisis in 2012, Humanity & Inclusion has helped 1.8 million Syrians in six countries through emergency rehabilitation, psychological support, and supplying prosthetics and other assistive devices. As of December 2020, Humanity & Inclusion provided 14,000 prosthetics or orthotics to Syrians and conducted rehabilitation sessions with 180,000 people. Learn more about our work and the Syria crisis.
‘It Will Take at Least Two Generations to Rebuild’
Humanity & Inclusion
After a decade of war, Syria has been completely contaminated by explosive remnants on a scale experts have never seen before. When the conflict ends, the complex work of clearing weapons and rebuilding the country will begin. Humanity & Inclusion’s Emmanuel Sauvage, Director of Armed Violence Reduction at Humanity & Inclusion, tells us more:
What makes contamination in Syria different?
There are two reasons why Syria is a special case when it comes to weapons clearance. The first is the very wide range of weapons used. After a decade of conflict, Syrian soil is contaminated by a complete spectrum of explosive weapons including unexploded bombs, explosive remnants and booby traps, and improvised mines. The second is the fact that urban areas and their outskirts are the worst affected. You find the widest range of explosive weapons in cities. We know from experience that it is particularly difficult to clear urban areas. In Raqqa, for example, where 80% of the city has been destroyed, the ground is littered with rubble mixed with explosive remnants and booby traps left behind by the belligerent parties. In Laos, they are still clearing weapons 45 years after the Vietnam War, so I think it will take at least two generations to clear Syria.
What are the obstacles to weapons clearance in Syria today?
The variety of explosive weapons used in the Syrian conflict makes clearance complex. Each type of explosive weapon works in a different way. You don’t neutralize an improvised mine in the same way as an unexploded bomb. We need to deploy different experts for different types of explosive weapons in the ground. But since there are all kinds of explosive weapons in Syria, we need many more professionals trained in these types of weapons.
Mine clearance in urban areas is particularly long and complicated. When buildings and infrastructure are destroyed in cities, the rubble is contaminated by explosive remnants. In some Syrian cities we can almost measure contamination in cubic meters because the ground is contaminated by layers of rubble and explosive remnants. This requires specific resources, professionals trained in this type of contamination, and great care to be taken when clearing and reconstructing cities.
When we talk about reconstruction, what exactly do we mean?
Reconstruction obviously begins with weapons clearance. The international community must take action to protect Syrian lives from explosive remnants. Some 11.5 million Syrians out of a total population of 17 million are currently at risk from these weapons. Weapons clearance is therefore a priority in reconstructing the country.
Then comes the actual reconstruction, which is divided into interdependent stages: the reconstruction of infrastructure and housing, economic recovery, but also restoring the link between the different communities damaged by a decade of conflict. It’s a huge challenge.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the early 2000s, apart from weapons clearance, it was important to get the communities talking to each other again in order to plan for long-term peace. Weapons clearance brought people together around a problem and shared risks, and provided a starting point for dialogue and collective initiatives. It marked the first step towards defusing the tension caused by the conflict.
We also have to think about how to support individuals. Syrians have experienced the horrors of war, and they need physical and psychological support. Physical trauma such as amputations, brain and spinal cord injuries, but also psychological trauma need specific care. I think it will take at least two generations to rebuild Syria.
Humanity & Inclusion and the Syria Crisis
Since the organization began its response to the Syria crisis in 2012, Humanity & Inclusion has helped 1.8 million Syrians in six countries through emergency rehabilitation, psychological support, and supplying prosthetics and other assistive devices. As of December 2020, Humanity & Inclusion provided 14,000 prosthetics or orthotics to Syrians and conducted rehabilitation sessions with 180,000 people. Learn more about our work and the Syria crisis.
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