Syria's Recovery Is Leaving Persons with Disabilities Behind

According to Humanity & Inclusion's (HI) newly released report, 28% of Syrians in humanitarian need have disabilities. They are largely excluded from recovery programs.

Why It Matters

A new report from HI documents how the estimated 28% of Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance who live with a disability are at risk of being systematically excluded from every stage of the recovery process.

Hospitals, schools, return and reintegration programs, and mine action responses are being rebuilt or designed without accessibility at their core, creating conditions that are actively disabling for the people trying to use them.

Key Figures

• 28% of Syrians in humanitarian need are estimated to have disabilities, likely undercounted
• 37–48% disability prevalence in Northeast Syria, as many as 1 in 2 people
• 1,015 explosive ordnance casualties in Syria in 2024; the 2nd highest globally, behind only Myanmar
• More than 60% of school-age children with severe disabilities have never attended any school

Safe Return Requires More Than Crossing a Border

Return is happening, but the conditions for a safe and dignified return remain absent. Over 1.3 million Syrians have returned since the December 2024 transition, but 87% of refugee-owned properties are destroyed or severely damaged, and 58% of owners lack the documentation needed to reclaim them. For people with disabilities, destroyed housing is an accessibility crisis, not just a logistical problem.

A secondary displacement crisis is emerging. Returnees with disabilities who return to areas without rehabilitation services, inaccessible shelter, and no adapted livelihoods are being displaced a second time. The report documents a cycle of repeated uprooting that increases vulnerability with each move.

The healthcare system is failing persons with disabilities. Only 57% of hospitals are fully functional. Over half to two-thirds of Syria's health workforce has fled the country. Rehabilitation specialists, such as physical therapists, prosthetists, and occupational therapists, are almost absent outside major cities. In HI's January 2026 assessment in Aleppo, nearly 1 in 3 people reported having unmet medical needs.

More than 60% of children with severe disabilities have never been to school. Syria's schools were built without accessibility standards. Years of conflict and damage have made access even worse. HI's assessment of learning centers found that only 41% complied with minimum accessibility standards, and 10 out of 11 centers had no adapted toilets. Teacher training in inclusive education does not exist.

Landmines are creating a new generation of persons with disabilities. Syria had the world's second-highest number of explosive ordnance casualties in 2024. Between December 2024 and May 2026, 2,288 casualties have been recorded: 808 killed, and 1,477 injured, among them 834 children. The spring truffle harvest is a lifeline for rural families, but it draws people into heavily mined land each year, with predictable consequences.

Invisible in the Data, Overlooked in the Response

Syria ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009. A 2024 legislative decree reaffirmed those obligations. But the gap between formal commitment and lived reality has only widened during the conflict.

The report also highlights a fundamental data problem: Syria's last national census was in 2004. No dedicated national disability survey has ever been conducted. Persons with disabilities who aren't registered with official social services, likely the majority, are entirely missing from the figures that guide international funding decisions.

Returning to Syria: Supporting Safe and Inclusive Returns from Jordan and Lebanon

Fifteen years of conflict have left tens of millions of Syrians in need. A new policy brief maps the gap between calls for refugee returns and conditions on the ground. Governments and donors are pressing for Syrian refugees to return home. Yet only 1–2% of refugees report plans to return soon, and over 80% cite unsafe conditions, lack of livelihoods, and absent services as the reason they stay.

The Humanitarian Emergency in Numbers

• More than 90% of Syrians are below the poverty line
• 15.6 million people in Syria need humanitarian aid
• More than 12 million Syrians are forcibly displaced
• More than 5.5 million Syrians are internally displaced inside the country.
• 6.6 million refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons are targeted under the 2026 regional response plan.
• Over 1 million refugees returned from abroad after the December 2024 change of government — but some have since been displaced again.

The Prevalence of Disability Among Displaced People

Persons with disabilities make up roughly 17% of the 6.5 million Syrians requiring education support in 2026.

In Jordan, 23.5% of registered Syrian refugees (91,127 people) have specific needs, including 38,260 with disabilities and 51,271 with serious medical conditions. In Lebanon, 11% of Syrian refugees experience functional difficulties, rising to 40% among those aged 60 and over.

The difficulty of returning to their places of origin stems from extensive contamination by explosive remnants and the danger they pose to locals. In many places, public services such as health centers and schools have not reopened yet, and economic activities, mainly in rural areas, have not resumed, leaving families without any source of income:

• 14.1 million Syrians are at risk from explosive ordnance. Casualties tripled in 2025 compared to prior years.
• 2,199 casualties from 1,208 explosive ordnance incidents recorded Dec 2024 – Apr 2026; 784 were killed, and 1,415 were injured
• 779 of 1,208 incidents occurred on farmland or grazing areas, the very activities that returnees depend on to rebuild.
• 30%+ of surveyed communities reported contamination within 10 km; 80% of those areas also recorded incidents.
• 12.8 million Syrians lack reliable access to healthcare.
• 8,000+ schools (approximately30% of Syria's total) are non-functional.
• 14.3 million people need livelihoods and early recovery support.

Spokespersons are available for interviews upon request.