One year since the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, The HALO Trust warns that at least 1,600 civilians have been killed or injured by unexploded bombs in Syria, including 165 child fatalities.
In November, four children aged seven to 17, were killed and four more wounded when an old landmine exploded as they were picking olives in Hama. Just last week in the southern town of Kanaker, five children were severely injured when they mistook a cluster bomb for a shiny toy in the rubble and another child was badly hurt by an explosion while herding sheep in Idlib.
"A year of hope has been tainted by tragedy. People are returning home after 14 years of brutal civil war only to find death or injury for their children. Many homes are reduced to rubble laced with explosives and booby traps deliberately left to wreak further terror on an already-traumatised population", says HALO Syria Programme Manager, Simon Jackson.
"People can’t wait for help and are being driven by desperation to clear unexploded ordnance themselves. This is extremely dangerous and has resulted in life-changing injuries and deaths. Cluster munitions are the worst culprits – particularly for children – as they are most sensitive to motion and probably kill the most children as they are easy to detonate when picked up or stood upon.
"People are unable to restart their livelihoods and support their families, particularly on agricultural land, due to hidden explosives threats lying silently in wait under the ground. I was in Palmyra recently, a now-devastated city that once relied on tourism and was home to more than 40,000 people. Now there are just 20,000. Many parents told me that their sons and daughters exiled in neighbouring countries don’t want to come back to Syria because of the sheer volume of explosives.
"There is reason to be hopeful, but we need investment in Syria right now," Jackson continues. "This has been a wasted year waiting to see what happens politically, but Syria is relatively stable and now is the time for donors and governments to act. Prosperity brings peace, and making the land safe is the first step in the regeneration of communities."
- An estimated 1.25 million refugees and two million internally displaced people have already made the journey to their former homes across Syria.
- Hama now joins Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo and Idlib among the governorates having recorded more than 100 explosive accidents each since last year.
- Since December 2024, 348 people have been killed while farming their land, including 95 children.
- Syria is second only to Myanmar as the most dangerous country in the world for UXO accidents, according to the Landmine Monitor 2024.
- HALO is providing regular risk education classes and safely destroying UXOs as fast as it can in Idlib, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Daara, Damascus and Homs, but currently only has a team of 200 staff. HALO estimates that it will cost around $40m a year for a full-scale operation of 1,500 staff to clear Syria of explosives.
