Background The Syrian conflict has endured for a decade, causing one of the most significant humanitarian crises since World War II. The conflict has inflicted massive damage to civil infrastructure, and not even the health care sector has been spared. On the contrary, health care has been targeted, and as a result, many health professionals have left the country. Despite the life-threatening condition, many health professionals continued to work inside Syria even in the middle of the acute crisis. This qualitative study aims to determine the factors that have motivated Syrian health professionals to work in a conflict-affected country. Methods The research is based on 20 semi-structured interviews of Syrian health care workers. Interviews were conducted in 2016–2017 in Gaziantep, Turkey. A thematic inductive content analysis examined the motivational factors Syrian health care workers expressed for their work in the conflict area. Results Motivating factors for health care workers were intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic reasons included humanitarian principles and medical ethics. Also, different ideological reasons, patriotic, political and religious, were mentioned. Economic and professional reasons were named as extrinsic reasons for continuing work in the war-torn country. Conclusions The study adds information on the effects of the Syrian crisis on health care—from healthcare workers' perspective. It provides a unique insight on motivations why health care workers are continuing their work in Syria. This research underlines that the health care system would collapse totally without local professionals and leave the population without adequate health care.
ObjectivesTo explore the reasons why healthcare workers migrate from Syria, a country where conflict has been raging for over a decade.DesignA qualitative study was performed using semistructured interviews. Semistructured questions guided in-depth interviews. Content analysis was used.SettingParticipants were Syrian healthcare workers who had worked in the country after the conflict started in 2011, but at some point left Syria and settled abroad. The interviews took place in Turkey and Europe in 2016 and 2017.ParticipantsWe collected data from 20 participants (18 males and 2 females) through snowball sampling method.ResultsHealthcare workers migrated from Syria only because of security reasons. In most cases, the decision to leave resulted from the generalised violence against civilians by different warring parties, mainly the Government of Syria and the Islamic State. Intentional attacks against healthcare workers were also one of the main reasons for leaving. Some participants had a specific notable trigger event before leaving, such as colleagues being detained or killed. Many participants simply grew tired of living under constant fear, with their families also at risk.ConclusionsThis research adds to the body of literature on violence against healthcare workers in Syria. It helps to understand the reasons why healthcare workers leave the country. The study also indicates that the international community has failed to protect Syrian healthcare workers. The intensity of the conflict has left many healthcare workers with no other option than to leave. Understanding this migration will enable the discovery of new solutions for protecting healthcare workers in current and future conflicts.
Objectives: To explore the experiences of Syrian health care workers of violence since 2011 and reasons behind migration from the conflict-affected country Design: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and inductive content analysis. Interviews were conducted in Turkey and Europe in 2016 - 2017. Setting: Interviewees were Syrian health care workers who had been working in the country after the conflict started in 2011, but at some point, migrated from Syria to Turkey or Europe. Participants: We studied data from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews collected with a snowball sampling method. Results: Our findings show that health care workers migrated from Syria because of security issues. In most cases, the decision to leave was a result of the generalised violence that was spreading through the country since 2011. Targeted attacks by various warring parties against health care was one of the main reasons for leaving. Some participants had a specific notable trigger event before they left; such as a colleague being detained or killed. Many just grew tired of living under constant threat and fear, with their families also at risk. Conclusions: This research adds to the body of literature on violence in Syria. It helps to understand the reasons why health care workers, even though realising that it will leave their population without proper health care provision, nevertheless decide to flee the country.
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