The War Victims and Persons with Disabilities in Syria

Monday, 12 November 2012 13:05 Dr. Shahrazad Junde

According to a United Nations spokesman, "Every hour people are being killed, or being maimed and becoming permanently disabled in Syria." So many horrors are occurring that it is impossible to provide an exact number. When we asked the Medical Health Commission for the Syrian Revolution about the estimated number of either temporary or permanently disabled people resulting from military operations, we received these numbing answers: "We can't tell," or "We don't know."  One of the Doctors  said   “I have seen many  persons lose eyes, hands, feet or arms as a result of war and other random acts of violence, and the families lack the fundamental infrastructure to care for the people--the men, women and children who become disabled." One of the persons with disability has told me, "After I lost my left arm and part of my left leg, questions began haunting me. They were: Who am I now? What can I do now? What future do I now have professionally?  Can I now plan for a family?  Can I now be a wage earner? Can I now be a lover? Can I now be independent? Am I now viewed the same by my family and friends? The 'now I's multiplied with each personal, intellectual, economic, social and physical challenge." The world's efforts to deal with the challenges facing people with disabilities in Syria are abysmal. The fundamental rights of disabled persons are consistently violated, and few organization are doing a professional  work to provide rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities, but the need are much greater than their capacities. Most of the war victims we talked to they do not know what to do or where to go for rehabilitation services.   Field hospitals, community groups have started some programmes to provide rehabilitation services for disabilities, but it was evident that there is a great need for networking between different groups as the activities of the different players in the rehabilitation process as are loosely linked. Disability Rights, Syria will work to coordinate and strengthen linkages between the different players to ensure effective service delivery. We also are working to establish a networking system and an effective referral system to rehabilitation services in places that is available inside Syria or in the neighboring countries.   There is a need for regular compilation of data and reports regarding rehabilitation activities (Rehabilitation Management Information System RIS) to ensure effective follow up and support to the service providers and the target population. This will require identification and registration of injured war victims, by the community workers.  Disability Right, Syria has established an online registration system for Syrian war injured that will be used for effective delivery of rehabilitation services.  Community workers are visiting the war injured persons and registering the cases in a special questionnaire that is used to compile the rehabilitation management information system. Many physically injured people were traumatized and they need to be supported to overcome trauma. Many were reported to have lost self-esteem and thought that they could not do anything on their own, that they had to be dependents. There is need for counseling services, social and economic support for the injury victims. Psychosocial support will be provided to the victims through coordination with national partners and international organizations working with displaced inside Syria and refugees in neighboring countries. Most of the physically disabled persons we met needed mobility devices. They need tricycles, artificial limbs, corsets, and so on, to facilitate their physical mobility. However mobility devices are not available in Syria which makes it difficult for most of those who need them, especially in the rural areas to access them. There is need to support locally made mobility devices and to increase their outlets in the rural areas. This will make the mobility devices more affordable and easy to maintain.   Our future plans will focus on collaboration with international agencies for supporting children with disabilities as there is a need to work on a broader definition of children with disabilities associated with armed conflict.  It is important that an integrated approach be taken to address the needs of all conflict affected children within a broad child protection framework.  Special attention will be given to girls with disabilities   and the specific threats facing them. Their particular needs include the psychological, physical and social consequences of sexual and physical abuse. It has proved to be a formidable challenge to have a rehabilitation programme for persons with disabilities during the war. Although technical support that is provided to Syria war victims in the displaced areas and refugee camps are important, but Children with disabilities needs continuous rehabilitation and not to provide relief for one time. The process of rehabilitation is one that takes many years. There are no quick fixes and external agencies offering support in terms of programmes and funding must recognize this and respond appropriately. The challenges is so great, the need is beyond our capacity, but through coordination and cooperation with other national, regional and international agencies working on the ground we have started a programme that will expand and develop to become a sustainable programme for supporting war victims  and persons with disabilities during the revolution, during the transition period and until we have a new Syria that is capable of providing protection and a sustainable rehabilitation programme for  all its citizens.