![]() “The capacity in public health has deteriorated drastically over the past 10 years.What I’m seeing now is extremely painful.” But the ongoing fighting has driven out many doctors, nurses, and teachers, leaving many institutions a shell of what they once were. “We were very much hoping this would be the beginning of rebuilding the health sector and the education system,” he said. invasion ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, and returned to his homeland to serve simultaneously as the minister of health and education. The effect was devastating as Iraq saw its health indicators drop to the level of much poorer and less developed countries, like Yemen.Īlwan saw the possibility of renewal after the U.S. He pointed out that Iraq’s war with Iran in the 1980s was followed by the first Gulf War in 1991, which led to more than a decade of international sanctions. “Iraq was one of the countries with the best health indicators in the 1980s,” said Ala Alwan, an Iraqi who is the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Wars in Middle Income Countries– Iraq, Syria, and Libya all had large, middle class populations along with functioning health care and education systems before they collapsed into chaos. The brain drain in Syria and other war-torn countries has been extreme. Those with an education, profession, money, and language skills were among the first to leave and are the most likely to build new lives for themselves abroad. As a rule, refugees that travel farthest from their homeland are the least likely to return. With so many refugees spread over so many countries, there will be long-term consequences when the wars end and it comes time to rebuild. In distant Sodertalje, Sweden, a place that has prided itself on welcoming refugees, native Swedes are starting to feel overwhelmed now that 30,000 of the city’s 90,000 residents hail from the Middle East. A quarter million Syrians have reached Europe in the past few years, and many are making it well beyond the countries along the southern tier. North African and West African economic migrants had been the source of much of the traffic, but now Syrian refugees account for the single largest group attempting to cross the Mediterranean, according to the UN.Īnd on the third level, the refugees are having an impact in places no one would have imagined a few years ago. On the second level, the Middle East conflicts are behind the unprecedented numbers of refugees trying to reach the southern shores of Europe. And, as Enis Baris, a sector manager for the Middle East and North Africa with the World Bank, pointed out, “Even without the conflicts, many of the health care systems in the region were under stress.” A nearby camp has, to a small extent, relieved the pressure placed on Zaatari, but the huge demands on Jordan and other frontline states will remain for years. It was home to more than 100,000 Syrian refugees a year later, making it the fourth largest city in Jordan. Nothing drives home this point like the scene at Jordan’s Zaatari camp, a desert wasteland when it was established in 2012. On the first level, the surge of refugees has placed the greatest amount of stress on Syria’s immediate neighbors: Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. This crisis is unfolding on three levels. But Libya’s anarchy means that its coastline is no longer patrolled, making it the best launching point for those desperate to cross the Mediterranean. Many of those same refugees are now turning up in Libya, a seemingly strange choice given that country’s civil war. ![]() When Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011, another outpour began. Iraq’s war over the past decade sent refugees flooding into Syria. ![]() The Domino Effect– Every new conflict unleashes a new humanitarian emergency and exacerbates existing ones. The participants shared some of their best practices, toughest problems, and recurring themes with which they are wrestling. Highlight clips from "Cut Off from Care: The Health Crisis of Displaced Populations in the Middle East."Īgainst this backdrop, The Middle East Institute pulled together a wide range of experts for a conference in Washington, held on June 25, entitled “ Cut Off from Care” to explore the challenges facing governments, international organizations, and humanitarian groups.
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