I had to leave. I had to leave my clinic, my city, leave everything behind in Syria. Qualitative research of Syrian healthcare workers migrating from the war-torn country

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the reasons why healthcare workers migrate from Syria, a country where conflict has been raging for over a decade.

Design: A qualitative study was performed using semistructured interviews. Semistructured questions guided in-depth interviews. Content analysis was used.

Setting: Participants 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.

Participants: We collected data from 20 participants (18 males and 2 females) through snowball sampling method.

Results: Healthcare 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.

Conclusions: This 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.

Keywords: ISIS; Syria; conflict; healthcare worker; migration; qualitative; snowball method; violence.