Threatened by soldiers, Iraqi doctors ‘don’t feel safe’

BAGHDAD — It was a little before 2 p.m. last Monday when a group of Interior Ministry soldiers carried a wounded colleague into the emergency room at Yarmouk hospital.

Waving their weapons frantically, two of the soldiers demanded immediate attention from Haider Hussein, 25, a resident with only three months’ experience.

The soldiers did not react well when Dr. Hussein requested time to prepare before examining the patient.

“They told me, ‘We’re authorized to kill you if you don’t help us now,’ ” Dr. Hussein said.

Two armed men left and, according to several doctors, returned with about 15 more soldiers who blocked the entrances to the emergency room, holding the attending doctors prisoner. The standoff didn’t end until the hospital’s security force fired into the air to persuade the ministry soldiers to release the doctors.

The confrontation turned out to be a breaking point for doctors at Yarmouk. On Thursday afternoon, they went on strike, saying they were accustomed to dealing with the worst of the capital’s unrelenting violence but no longer could handle the intimidation and aggressive tactics of the military and police.

“We don’t feel safe anymore,” said Haider Brahim, 28, the chief surgeon in Yarmouk’s emergency room.

The one-day strike did not resolve their problem, but it did win them a promise that authorities will look into three main demands: a public apology from the Interior Ministry, a ban on weapons inside the hospital and a ward exclusively for armed-forces physicians to care for military and police casualties.

It was the third time that Yarmouk’s doctors have walked off the job in three years because of the harsh working environment, said the hospital’s director, Haqqi Razzaiki. He said 16 physicians had quit in the past two months because of miserable working conditions.

“The whole situation is bad, and we’re getting no help from the Ministry of Health,” Dr. Brahim said.

Yarmouk’s 24 emergency-room physicians earn a little more than $135 a month.

Most of the hospital’s 150 doctors live in dilapidated residence halls on the hospital grounds. In one cramped room with no bathroom, six doctors who work alternate shifts share three small beds pressed against the walls.

About 50 doctors share a narrow restroom in a hallway. Dust covers the floor, and a hole in the floor serves as a toilet. Another restroom on a separate floor lacks running water.

The food, prepared in large metal pots in a room tucked away from the first-floor corridor, is a frequent target of criticism.

“We tried to give the food once to stray cats, but they wouldn’t eat it,” said Dr. Hussein. “Some prisoners live better than this.”

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