ERBIL — At the wake of ongoing violence over the past few years, an approximate number of 20,000 Iraqi doctors have escaped the country, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Health Ministry warned.

Since 2014, when the Islamic State (IS) crossed Syrian border into Iraq and took control over swathes of territories in the country, hundreds of thousands have fled, millions were displaced internally.

Among the huge wave of refugee influx escaping Iraq, were thousands of physicians who were looking for a brighter future elsewhere away from their war-torn country.

Saif Badr, ministry spokesperson, told news outlets that the Iraqi doctors are well-experienced and easily taken in by other countries, especially the neighbors.

He noted that, however, the migration of doctors has faced Iraq’s healthcare sector with various difficulties.

Besides the Islamic State (IS) crisis, physicians faced a wave of targeted attacks across Iraq in 2017 and 2018. In August 2018, Iraq’s health ministry urged for immediate actions to protect doctors as the number of assassinations targeting physicians, especially in Baghdad, had rapidly increased.

Bas News