Syria’s new death traps: Hospitals
Airstrikes targeted 11 Syrian hospitals in April, destroying infrastructure, killing patients and aid workers. In Syria, civilians are left with no choice but to adopt a risk mentality when rushing to hospital for treatment. Busy, noisy and overwhelmed hospitals now resemble silent library-like places, not attended in fear of being killed by targeted missiles. It’s clear that targeting hospitals and humanitarian workers has become a strategy of war in the Syrian conflict, but how has this impacted the civilian population and the humanitarians?
Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American journalist with On the Ground News (OGN), reported that 11 hospitals have been targeted with airstrikes rendering them out of service. In a video featuring an undisclosed hospital, Kareem explains how a hospital in northern Syria is empty as civilians are too scared to resort to a hospital for medical relief.
OGN tells MEMO: “Strikes took place in Arbin Hospital in Eastern Ghouta; Khan Sheikhoun which was targeted twice; Kafara Khareen in which airstrikes destabilised two hospitals for women and a special unit for children; Maaret Al-Numan hospital in Idlib; Abideen hospital in southern Idlib, Kafra Nubal hospital, Deir Al-Sharqi and three airstrikes in hospitals in Dara’a, all in April 2017, alone.”
What we do know is that it’s an aerial attack, and that the rebels do not have any planes nor any helicopters.
This only leaves the Syrian regime and Russian forces as possible perpetrators as, as yet, there have been no reports of coalition forces targeting hospitals. However, there is extensive historical data of the regime and its allies striking medical centres.
When I look at the [remains of] split shelling’s after bombing, they have Russian writing on it and it’s pretty clear.
Abdul Kareem explains.
Hospitals moved underground
With Syrian hospitals already overwhelmed with the war-wounded, civilians are desperately treated on the floor, corridors and frequently die due to inadequate medical equipment or treatment.
Dr Shajul Islam, a British-trained doctor working in Syria to assist injured civilians, says doctors are being forced to work in extreme circumstances in the knowledge that the next strike could end their lives. As a result, many hospitals have been moved underground, away from the sight of military aircrafts.
We [medical staff] take our precautions, and started moving out medical equipment underground. Medical facilities have been targeted since 2012, when I first came to Syria to help. Most of the hospitals are now underground or inside caves.
It’s a policy that has spread fear into the hearts of not just the civilians but also hospital staff who have seen the destruction caused by airstrikes first hand.
I have witnessed it with my own eyes; I’ve seen damage that happened to hospital facilities… It’s one of the scariest things to comprehend, especially when you see injured civilians in the hospital trying to save their lives whilst thinking they could be killed at any moment – very scary.
Sharif says.
.@jk_rowling @AlabedBana @Alhamdhulillaah @MuslimMatters @MoeenAli @SonnyBWilliams @YasirQadhi @omarsuleiman504 @SyriaCivilDef @TalkIslam1 I think about my patients; The child that just got bombed in her house. Long hours of operation to be bombed again IN the hospital. 💔 #Syria
— Dr Shajul Islam (@DrShajulIslam) April 30, 2017
Such attacks are in direct violation of international laws and amount to war crimes. Medical centres enjoy special protective status under international humanitarian law. When civilians are terrified of being treated in hospital it’s time to question why the international community is remaining silent.
