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.
IPS UN Bureau Report