Silver Spring, MD--A new report identifies indiscriminate bombings as the overriding factor forcing millions of Syrians to flee their homes. Qasef: Escaping the bombing takes an intimate look at the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Based on interviews with Syrian refugees in July 2016, a document review, and expert interviews, the report identifies the large scale use of explosive weapons in populated areas as the most significant cause of the mass displacement of Syrians. More than 10.9 million Syrians have been affected, equivalent to more than half of the country’s population.

Syrians interviewed for the report said they were subject to multiple displacements within Syria—up to 25 times after successive attacks—before seeking refuge abroad. Repeated displacement causes extreme poverty and serious psychological distress.

“War does not justify everything,” says Anne Héry, head of advocacy at Handicap International. “There are international rules that must be enforced, such as the law requiring belligerent parties to protect civilians from the effects of war. Attacks using explosive weapons with a wide-area impact in populated area have indiscriminate effects. All States have a responsibility to ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld and enforced.”

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is the main cause of civilian deaths. In 2012, according to a study released by the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) and cited in the report, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas was responsible for 48% of civilian casualties. That figure rose to 83% in 2016.

Some weapons, such as barrel bombs and elephant rockets are indiscriminate by nature. Their lack of precision causes large numbers of civilian casualties. The report also underlines the seriousness of the injuries caused by these attacks: 47% of people injured by explosive weapons have complex fractures.

“Combined with the absence of appropriate medical care and psychological support in Syria, this practice has had a devastating effect on people’s lives,” Héry notes. “With more than 1.5 million casualties in Syria, an entire generation is going to suffer the sequelae [of these injuries] for many years to come.”

Syrians who were not directly affected by the attacks are also forced to flee in order to rebuild their lives: bombing destroys key infrastructure (homes, hospitals, water and electricity networks, etc.) and social and economic life.

“Weapons clearance will take decades in Syria, which is highly contaminated by explosive remnants of war,” Héry adds. “The parties to the conflict must immediately end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, particularly weapons with a wide-area impact. The international community must take action against this practice, which has become the rule in the Syrian conflict.”

In September 2015, Handicap International launched an international campaign to end attacks on civilians. The organization is calling on States to sign a political declaration to bring an end to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and to recognize the suffering of civilians. To this end, the organization has co-founded the INEW (International Network on Explosive Weapons) coalition of international and national organizations.

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Methodology

Qasef: Escaping the bombing is based on interviews recorded in Jordan in July 2016, with Syrian refugees from Aleppo, Damascus and the surrounding region, Deraa and Homs, as well as a review of existing literature on the crisis, and interviews with managers of international organizations.

• Download the report here

• Download a report summary here

Handicap International and the Syrian crisis

Handicap International has helped more than 600,000 people since the launch of the organization’s Syrian crisis operations in 2012. Teams provide physical rehabilitation services and psychological support, and distribute emergency aid to meet the basic needs of casualties, people with disabilities, and vulnerable individuals, in particular. Handicap International also issues awareness-raising and safety messages targeted at local populations to prevent accidents caused by explosive remnants of war.

Previous Handicap International reports about the Syrian Crisis

• Syria, A mutilated future (June 2016)
• Kobani: a city of rubble and unexploded devices (May 2015)
• The Use of Explosive Weapons in Syria: A Time Bomb in the Making (May 2015)
• Hidden victims of the Syrian crisis: disabled, injured and older refugees (2014)

Related links

To link your audience to Handicap International’s Syrian crisis donation form, visit  http://www.handicap-international.us/helpsyria

To share the Stop Bombing Civilians petition, visit http://www.handica p-international.us/stop_bombing_civilians

A new Handicap International report, Syria, A Mutilated Future, released on World Refugee Day, sheds light on the devastating impact of explosive weapons on Syrians. The report finds that 15% of reported Syrian victims of explosive weapons are amputees, and 80% are traumatized and suffer serious psychological distress.

The report studied 25,000 people with injuries who were either displaced in Syria or refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, and were receiving help from Handicap International between June 2013 and December 2015. The Syrian conflict caused 67% of their injuries, with explosive weapons to blame for 53% of the cases, and gunshot wounds accounting for 20%.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas has terrifying consequences. Eighty-nine percent of people injured by explosive weapons have a temporary or permanent disability; 80% of them show signs of severe psychological distress; 66% feel unable to perform essential daily tasks mainly because of anxiety, stress or physical or mental exhaustion.  

While 47% of people interviewed for the report have simple or complex fractures caused by explosive weapons, and 15% are amputees, appropriate medical services are seriously lacking due to the collapse of the health service in Syria, or, in neighboring countries, the inability of medical structures to meet the needs of injured refugees. This has a serious impact on patients, including lifelong pain, amputation, deformed limbs, disability, or even death.

All parties to the conflict use this type of weapon on a massive scale, with terrible consequences for civilians. “Because these explosive weapons have a blast or fragmentation effect, they kill or cause complex injuries,” explains Anne Héry, head of advocacy at Handicap International. “Their widespread use, combined with the absence of appropriate medical care and psychological support in Syria has a devastating impact on people’s lives. With more than one million casualties in Syria, an entire generation is going to suffer the consequences of these weapons.”

Handicap International continues to call on parties to the conflict to put an end to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and to ensure access to humanitarian aid in order to meet the needs of people affected by the conflict.

In September 2015, Handicap International launched an international campaign to end the bombing of civilians. The organization is calling on States to sign a political declaration to end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and to recognize the suffering of civilians. To achieve this, Handicap International has co-founded INEW (International Network on Explosive Weapons), a coalition of international and national organizations.

Methodology: The figures on injuries were collected by Handicap International and its partners through face-to-face interviews with displaced people and refugees in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, refugee camps and villages and neighborhoods in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon (region of Beqaa) between June 2013 and December 2015. The analysis is based on a total of 68,049 beneficiaries assessed by Handicap International’s teams, of which 25,097 are injured: 14,471 in Syria, 7,823 in Jordan and 2,803 in Lebanon.

Read the full report here

Handicap International and the Syrian crisis: More than 600,000 people have benefited from Handicap International’s actions since the organization launched its Syrian Crisis operations in 2012. The organization provides physical rehabilitation services and psychological support, and distributes emergency aid to meet the basic needs of casualties, people with disabilities and particularly vulnerable individuals. Handicap International also issues awareness-raising and safety messages targeted at local populations to prevent accidents caused by explosive remnants of war.

Meet a few of the people our donors help by clicking here.

Five-year-old Malak, a Syrian refugee living in Jordan’s Zaatari camp with her family, laughs joyfully as she kicks a football back and forth with Mohammed, her Humanity & Inclusion Physical Therapist. Mohammed is teaching the girl how to use her new prosthetic leg. It’s difficult to imagine now, but in December 2015, when Malak first met Mohammed, she did nothing but cry.

This month, I hope to call your attention to something that means a lot to me: the fates of millions of people with disabilities and injuries caught up in the Syrian crisis. March 15 marked the 5^th anniversary of the conflict, which has injured more than 1 million civilians, leaving thousands of them with a  disability for life as a result of  the loss of limbs or spinal cord injuries. Countless people who already had a disability or illness are left in a desperate situation.