Suicides rise “alarmingly” in northwestern Syria

The number of suicides in northwestern Syria tripled between the first and second quarters of last year, from eight to 26, and from early 2021 to mid-2022 at least 83 people took their lives, according to the report.

, recently published by the NGO World Vision, which describes this increase as "alarming".

Of the total number of suicides, 40% are girls under 18 years of age.

"The data on the mental health crisis in northwestern Syria are shocking, especially for women and girls, and it is not surprising," Evita Jourdi, one of the authors of the study, told this newspaper, warning that the actual numbers are above these figures.

After almost 12 years of war, 4.6 million people, 80% of whom are women and children, remain trapped and overcrowded in the Syrian province of Idlib, the last stronghold of the regime's opposition.

Most have had to flee their homes and almost two million are in displacement camps, where hunger is rampant.

As the financial situation worsens, so does your mental health.

World Vision and its partners, including the No Lost Generation (NLG) initiative, spoke to more than 100 adults and youth about the situation.

"More than 90% of the people surveyed said that deaths by suicide had increased in the last year, and more than half admitted that adolescents, and particularly girls, were at risk," summarizes Jourdi.

We must address the social and economic needs underlying this mental health crisis, and we cannot do so if funding continues to decline

Evita Jourdi, author of the report 'Reaching the Final Straw'

Three quarters of those surveyed stated that poverty and the inability to meet their basic needs were one of the main causes of young people considering suicide, but in the case of girls and women, these problems are compounded by others.

“They are not only victims of the dangers of war and limited mobility due to lack of security, but are also exposed to various forms of sexual and gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment, domestic violence or marriage. infantile”, enumerates the expert.

“Even before the war, Syrian girls as young as 13 were forced to marry.

In fact, almost 15% of Syrian women were married before they turned 18”, details Jourdi.

Conflict and displacement, warns the NGO Girls Not Bride, made the situation even worse, as parents in desperate situations were forced to make even more desperate decisions as they lost their homes and livelihoods and child marriage became a a common practice.

In Arab culture, suicide is often a taboo subject.

“In the northwestern Syrian community, if someone plans to take their own life, or takes their own life, those around them will try to hide it.

And this is even stronger for women and girls, since in their tradition they are the ones who uphold family honor”, ​​Jourdi develops.

“Despite this, there are still more women and girls attempting or killing themselves than men and boys, so it follows that there is a big problem.”

According to this report, the number of registered suicide attempts doubled in the first half of 2022, compared to the previous six months, going from 106 to 213. Adult women represent almost half (49%) of the reported cases, followed by of men (34%), girls (12%) and boys (5%).

There are other exits

Before the bombings that turned her life upside down, Amira (not her real name to protect her identity) lived happily with her entire family.

She tells it herself, now eight years old, in a testimony collected by World Vision.

One bad day, her village was bombed and her house collapsed.

She survived, but her parents and her brother were killed in the attack.

Amira and her grandparents headed to northern Syria in the hope of finding a safe place to stay.

“All I could feel was sadness and despair.

She had lost everything.

My city, my house, my family, my friends and my flowers, ”she recalls.

The girl, who was a bright and very sociable student, began to have problems at school and became withdrawn.

Amira (not her real name) and her grandmother, internally displaced in a camp in northwest Syria.

After her parents were killed in a bombing raid, her grandmother and her grandfather became Amira's sole caretakers. World Vision

In the displacement camp where they live, her grandmother heard about a center that offered psychological assistance and registered Amira.

During one of the drawing classes where the children were asked to draw what made them feel happy, she painted her family and lamented: "I will never be happy without them."

But little by little, after several sessions, she began to come out of her shell and became more expressive.

She learned to use art to express her feelings instead of repressing them and realized that being with other people could bring joy to her life.

In her friends he found comfort and security.

They are not only victims of the dangers of war and limited mobility due to lack of security, but are also exposed to various forms of sexual and gender-based violence, such as sexual harassment, domestic violence or child marriage.

Evita Jourdi, author of the report 'Reaching the Final Straw'

“Now I feel like I have friends who love me and support me,” Amira shares in the story collected by World Vision.

Also her grandmother is pleased with the improvement of her granddaughter: “I am very grateful that psychological support services are available for children.

They have experienced so much sadness…”.

However, this is not the reality for everyone.

The NGO's study reveals that despite growing mental health needs and the fact that two-thirds of those surveyed believed that children were very likely to have suicidal thoughts, 44% of people do not know of any mental health services. mental health for children.

“Financial resources for the Syrian crisis are dwindling as the world turns its attention to other crises, but the humanitarian needs in northwestern Syria are greater than ever.

We have seen firsthand the toll that conflict and uncertainty about the future wreak on children and their families, and this data should be a wake-up call for all of us to do more,” said Eleanor Monbiot, World Vision Regional Manager for the East. Middle and Eastern Europe, in the presentation of the report.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the appeal for funds for Syria to respond in 2022-2023 to the crisis in this country was just over 4,000 million euros.

Of these, only 47.4% (2,000 million) has been collected.

Within these needs, mental health becomes a priority.

Jourdi also stresses that investments are needed over a long period of time because the psychological treatments are prolonged.

“We must address the social and economic needs that underlie this mental health crisis, and we can't do it if funding continues to decline,” he insists.

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