This executive summary lays out highlights from the report What can be done to protect civilians and humanitarian aid workers from suicide drones in conflict zones? written by Max Bell School Master of Public Policy students Lilian Garc铆a Berg, Camille Haisell, Cyrus Nagra, Zara Rezae, and Fayez Sahak as part of the 2025 Policy Lab.
Access the summary and presentation below, and read their full report here.
"We [were] operating on children who would say: 'I was lying on the ground after a bomb had dropped, and this quadcopter came down and hovered over me and shot me.鈥�
These are the words of Professor Nizam Mamode, a surgeon who shared his experience with drones in the conflict in Gaza.
This is not an isolated event.
Modern warfare is rapidly changing, and civilians are bearing the brunt of the harm. Civilians remain the number one victim in conflict zones, not only as subjects of collateral damage, but as targets themselves.
Contributing to this problem is that state and non-state actors are increasingly relying on easily accessible commercial drones, modified into lethal weapons known as suicide drones. This has resulted in massive civilian casualties in conflict zones, from Gaza to Syria, Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Ethiopia, and Ukraine.
In Syria, humanitarian volunteers from the White Helmets responded to 41 suicide drone attacks from January to May of 2024 alone.
鈥淲hile suicide drone attacks represent a small proportion of overall attacks in Syria, their ability to discretely bypass the frontlines and target civilians is a cause for deep concern.鈥�
Suicide drones present a unique threat due to their affordability, accessibility, adaptability, agility, and the minimal risk exposure of soldiers operating them. As such, finding strategies to mitigate the unique threat of suicide drones must take these specificities into account.
The White Helmets 鈥� a humanitarian organization committed to assisting communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from attacks in Syria 鈥� have tasked this Policy Lab team with answering the following question: What can be done to protect civilians and humanitarian aid workers from suicide drones in conflict zones?
At once a very specific and yet expansive question, the scope of this research primarily focuses on technological mitigation strategies, tools of international humanitarian law, and uses the Syrian context as a case study.
The purpose of this report is to propose a set of creative, feasible, and interrelated recommendations to address the threat of suicide drones based on key insights derived from research conducted over nine months. The recommendations are tailored to the White Helmets and their role in the protection of civilians.
This report provides an analysis based on academic and grey literature, international law, and other primary and secondary sources. The report describes the key insights that informed the recommendations. It begins with the contexts of drone usage, describing how drones are being used in conflict zones, their impact on civilians, and the description of the relevant technology. Following this context, the next set of insights focuses on international law, exploring whether current international legal frameworks address the unlawful use of drones or if additional legislation is needed. The final set of key insights revolves around research, advocacy, and defence against small drones, investigating current protection mechanisms for civilians and the role technology could play in achieving that aim.
A Pragmatic and Principled Approach
The recommendations take both a pragmatic and principled approach, balancing realistic strategies that focus on preventing immediate harm with more long-term and idealist strategies that prioritize strengthening respect for international norms.
The White Helmets should therefore consider the following:
Recommendation 1:
Design and co-create a Drone Early Warning System (D-EWS) model specific to suicide drones yet adaptable to different conflict contexts. This model should include a drone threat risk assessment framework, a drone detection technology system using sensor devices, an information and communications technology (ICT) platform which sends SMS text alerts to at-risk communities, and a centralized database which collects standardized data on suicide drone attacks.
The primary objective of the D-EWS model is to detect and assess the risk of any immediate danger posed by suicide drones and to enable civilians to protect themselves. Improved humanitarian coordination and data standardization will improve pattern recognition of attacks, in turn improving preventative strategies.
Recommendation 2:
Pursue justice and accountability for illegal attacks on civilians and humanitarian aid workers by suicide drones by bringing a legal case to a court of Universal Jurisdiction, and pursue long-term prevention by working with the Syrian transitional government to ratify the Rome Statute.
The report recommends a comprehensive legal plan which would establish accountability instead of impunity. Suicide drone attacks perpetrated upon the White Helmets were grave violations of international humanitarian law, yet minimal enforcement action has been taken. As Syria has not ratified the Rome Statute, nor has the UN Security Council referred the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICC has no direct jurisdiction over Syria. This leaves Universal Jurisdiction exercised by national courts as the most effective means to achieve justice. The White Helmets should submit documented cases to German prosecutors to initiate legal proceedings that will expose perpetrators of suicide drone strikes. Additionally, the report advocates for simultaneous work to establish domestic legal accountability systems by supporting Syria's transitional government to ratify the Rome Statute. The combination of presently pursuing Universal Jurisdiction actions along with Rome Statute ratification efforts in the future offers a lasting solution to one of the most concerning technological warfare developments in recent history.
Recommendation 3:
Advocate for states to strengthen regulation of the commercial drone industry, including the implementation of geofencing systems and trade controls.
Geofencing offers a practical solution to prevent drones from accessing critical areas through the implementation of GPS systems, which utilize maps with restricted zones. Countries should coordinate regulatory requirements for drone producers to include GPS modules and geofencing software in their drones. Further, it is recommended that the White Helmets advocate for states to develop drone export and import control systems and report these transactions between drone manufacturers and states. This measure will increase transparency and responsibility, which could help prevent the weaponization and unlawful use of these devices.
