After years of displacement, families are slowly returning to Al-Tibni, a town in Deir-ez-Zor countryside in northeast Syria. Surrounded by dozens of villages across a wide agricultural region, Al-Tibni is home to tens of thousands of residents, many of whom have returned to rebuild their lives.
What they return to, however, is a community where essential services remain limited and healthcare is nearly entirely lacking.
Despite its size, Al-Tibni remains severely underserved. Years of conflict, displacement, and neglect have left health infrastructure damaged, inactive, or poorly equipped.
The nearest hospitals capable of providing specialised or emergency care are up to 45 km away, forcing families to travel long distances at high cost.
Supported by the European Union, Relief International (RI) teams operating a mobile clinic in the area have observed a marked deterioration in health conditions. Communicable diseases are spreading, chronic illnesses are poorly managed, and cases of child malnutrition are increasingly common. These challenges are further exacerbated by:
- poverty
- food insecurity
- and limited access to specialised health services
Filling a critical gap through mobile care
To help bridge this gap, Relief International’s mobile clinic is providing essential primary healthcare services to residents and returnees in Al-Tibni and neighbouring villages. With available resources, the clinic offers:
- consultations
- early diagnoses
- referrals
- follow-up care
- and health awareness sessions
The clinic often serves as the only point of medical access for entire communities. The clinic has held over 4,600 free consultations in recent months alone.
Kawthar Al-Abdallah, a nutrition technician with RI’s mobile clinic, explains that all children between 6 months and 5 years are routinely screened for malnutrition, along with pregnant and lactating women.
‘Many mothers don’t know their child is malnourished’, Kawthar says. ‘They come for a medical consultation, and through screening we discover the underlying problem.’
Once identified, cases are referred to the nearest available treatment centres which are often far away. The long distances make referrals especially difficult for mothers who cannot afford transportation. To address this challenge, efforts are underway to enable the direct provision of therapeutic nutrition for children at the EU-funded mobile clinic, ensuring a full continuum of care, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and follow-up.
‘If we get sick, where do we go?’
For returnees like Aref, a 56-year-old former teacher and father, the absence of reliable healthcare is one of many challenges. After returning to Al-Tibni following years of displacement, he found his home damaged and his livelihood unstable. Today, he survives on irregular agricultural work and day labour. He suffers from high blood pressure and asthma and depends on regular medical care.
‘In Al-Tibni and the surrounding villages, there are more than 70,000 people’, Aref says. ‘But we have almost no medical services. No laboratory, no X-ray, no ambulance.’
If a member of his family needs emergency care, the only option is to travel to Deir-ez-Zor city, a 45km journey that he cannot afford. ‘Sometimes, by the time an ambulance arrives, it’s already too late’, he adds.
Aref first learned about RI’s mobile clinic through the community. He received medical consultations and asthma inhalers from its staff – support that tangibly improved his day-to-day life.
‘The staff are committed and respectful’, he says. ‘But the needs here are much bigger than the resources. We hope the services can expand, more medicines, more staff, longer working days.’
Health as the first step to recovery
Despite the hardships, returnees continue to hold onto hope.
‘Health cannot wait’, Aref says. ‘Education is important, but when someone is sick, there should be no delay. Without healthcare, people cannot rebuild their lives.’
Through its mobile clinic in Al-Tibni, RI is providing a lifeline to returnees:
- addressing urgent health needs
- preventing malnutrition
- and restoring trust in healthcare services
With sustained support, these efforts can expand, ensuring that returning home does not mean risking one’s health, but reclaiming dignity and the right to care.
