20,000 doctors fled Iraq due to violence

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) - Nearly 20,000 doctors have left the country due to death threats and low wages, spokesman for Iraqi Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Attacks and harassment by some tribal members also caused Iraqi doctors to leave the country and start a new life in other countries, Sayf Badir told a news conference in Baghdad.

“Currently we are trying to persuade Iraqi doctors residing abroad to continue serving in our country," he said.

Badir did not provide any information on the current number of doctors in Iraq.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul and overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country.

According to the UN, more than 3.4 million people are now displaced in Iraq -- more than half of them children -- while more than 10 million are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.