4th December 2017 | Syria

In Syria, it is estimated 8.2 million people live聽in areas affected by the explosive remnants of聽war. Cluster munitions, IEDs鈥攎ost of which聽are landmines鈥攁nd unexploded ordnance are聽the lethal contaminants left by a conflict that聽continues to have a devastating impact on the聽Syrian population. Over half the housing stock is聽damaged and much of it is littered with explosives.聽聽

As displaced families return home, the risk of聽accidents mounts. Returnees are especially聽vulnerable to these deadly remnants of war聽lurking in homes, hospitals, streets and schools as聽they do not always realise the danger. Children 鈥斅爓ith their natural curiosity鈥攐ften become victims.聽

HALO has been working with a Syrian NGO to educate families about the聽risk of explosive remnants of war as they resettle聽and begin to rebuild their lives. The importance聽of this work is illustrated by the recent experience聽of one of the teams:

鈥淚n early October, we visited a school in the north-western province of Idlib to give a risk education lesson. At the end of the session two small children unzipped their backpacks and emptied the contents onto a desk. They were full of cluster munitions. They had just been taught not to pick up explosives and they had backpacks full of them.鈥

Risk education team, Syria

Syria is littered with explosives. Risk education teaches children how to stay safe.

Without risk education, the outcome is often聽devastating. The team recently met 12-year old Mohammed. He lost 80 per cent of his vision following聽an accident involving unexploded ordnance鈥攈e聽had been secretly collecting it with a friend to earn聽money for food and toys. His friend was killed.聽

Educating local communities about the dangers聽of explosive remnants of war prevents accidents聽and allows returning families to feel more secure.聽Ahmad is in the second-grade, last month he聽attended a risk education session in his village. He聽was very scared of landmines; he could recount聽many stories of people injured by them yet did not聽know how to keep himself safe. During the lesson,聽Ahmad learnt about the types of explosive hazards聽in his village, how he would know when he saw聽one and what he should do to stay out of danger.聽Risk education is the first step towards providing聽security for Syria鈥檚 people. Ahmed is keen for the聽team to return as soon as possible so he can learn more.