Policy Tag: Syria

Adopted by the 67th WMA General Assembly, Taipei, Taiwan, October 2016
and reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 218th Council session (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021 

 

The World Medical Association notes with great concern the repeated attacks on health care facilities, health personnel and patients since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011. These attacks have killed and injured civilian people, and the most vulnerable among them, children and patients. The WMA recalls that health care facilities and personnel must, according to the international law, be protected by all parties of the conflict. 

Therefore, the WMA 

  • Deeply regrets and condemns the recurring attacks on health care facilities, health personnel and patients, considering these as a violation of human rights; 
  • Calls on all countries to fully implement the UN Resolution 2286 (2016) which demands all parties to armed conflicts to fully comply with their obligations under international law, to ensure the respect and protection of all health and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, of their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities; 
  • Demands an immediate and impartial enquiry into the attacks against health care facilities and personnel, and actions taken against those responsible in accordance with domestic and international law. 

 

Adopted by the 66th General Assembly, Moscow, Russia, October 2015
and rescinded and archived by the 72nd WMA General Assembly (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021

The WMA recognises that mass movement of people often follows disasters that flow from armed conflict or natural phenomena as populations seek to escape danger and deprivation.  The current mass movement of the populations, to escape the effects of armed conflict including bombing, lack of access to utilities, clean water, and the destruction of homes, schools and hospitals, has been numerically larger than any mass movement of populations in over 70 years.

While the WMA recognises that countries may have concerns about their ability to absorb significant numbers of new migrants, we recognise that people fleeing warfare, or natural phenomena are doing so because they are desperate and often face life-threatening conditions.  They are afraid for their health, safety and welfare, and that of the family members who accompany them.

Most countries have signed international treaties giving them binding obligations to offer aid and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.  The WMA believes that, when there are events, including on-going events such as conflict, which generate refugee crises, governments must increase their efforts to provide assistance to those in need.

This should include ensuring safe passage for refugees, and appropriate support after they enter countries offering refuge.  Recognising that the disaster from which they have fled, and the vicissitudes of the journey, may have led to health problems it is essential that receiving countries establish systems to provide health care to refugees.

Governments should seek to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are able to live in dignity within their country of refuge and make all efforts to enable their integration into their new society. The international community should seek to obtain a peaceful solution in Syria under which the population can either stay at home safely or, if they have already left, safely return home.

The WMA recognises that mass population movement cause significant stress on existing populations of countries as well on those who become refugees.  We believe that governments and international agencies including the United Nations must make more concerted efforts to reduce the pressures that lead to such movements, including rapidly providing extensive relief after natural phenomena, and making more efforts to avert or stop armed conflict. Re-establishing security of food, water, housing, sewerage, education and health care, and improving public safety, should make a significant impact and reduce the numbers of refugees.

The WMA:

  • Recognises that the process of becoming a refugee is damaging to physical and mental health;
  • Commends those countries that have welcomed and cared for refugees, especially those currently fleeing Syria;
  • Calls on other countries to improve their willingness to receive refugees and asylum seekers;
  • Calls on national governments to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are enabled to live in dignity by providing access to essential services;
  • Calls on all governments to work together to seek to end local, regional, and international conflicts, and to protect the health, safety and welfare of populations;
  • Calls on all governments to cooperate in providing immediate help to countries facing the effects of natural phenomena, remembering that those already the most socio-economically disadvantaged will face the most challenges;
  • Calls upon global media to report on the refugee crisis in a manner that respects the dignity of refugees and displaced persons, and to avoid bigotry and racial or other bias in reporting.

Adopted by the 64th General Assembly, Fortaleza, Brazil, October 2013
And reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 215th Council session (online), Cordoba, Spain, October 2020

PREAMBLE

During wars and armed conflicts, hospitals and other medical facilities have often been attacked and misused and patients and medical personnel have been killed or wounded. Such attacks are a violation of the Geneva Conventions (1949), Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions (1977) and WMA policies, in particular, the WMA Statement on the Protection and Integrity of Medical Personnel in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence (Montevideo 2011) as well as WMA Regulations in Times of Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence (Bangkok 2012).

The World Medical Association (WMA) has been active in condemning documented attacks on medical personnel and facilities in armed conflicts, including civil wars. The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are designed to protect medical personnel, medical facilities and their patients in international and non-international armed conflicts. The parties on both sides of the conflict have legal and moral duties not to interfere with medical care for wounded or sick combatants and civilians, and to not attack, threaten or impede medical functions. Physicians and other health care personnel must act as and be considered neutral and must not be prevented from fulfilling their duties.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. The WMA recalls the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2286 adopted in 2016 condemning attacks and threats against medical personnel and facilities in conflict situations and demanding an end to impunity for those responsible.
  2. The WMA calls upon all parties in the Syrian conflict to ensure the safety of healthcare personnel and their patients, as well as medical facilities and medical transport, and to respect the ethical obligation of health personnel to treat all patients, irrespective of who they are in line with the Ethical Principles of Health Care in Times of Armed Conflict and other Emergencies endorsed by civilian and military health-care organizations in 2015.
  3. The WMA calls upon its members to approach local governments in order to facilitate international cooperation in the United Nations, the European Union or other international body with the aim of ensuring the safe provision of health care to the Syrian people.

 

Adopted by the 191st WMA Council Session, Prague, April 2012

The WMA recognises that attacks on health care facilities, health care workers and patients are an increasingly common problem and the WMA Council denounces all such attacks in any country.

These often occur during armed conflict and also in other situations of violence, including protests against the state.  Patients, including those injured during protests, often come from the poorest and most marginalised parts of the community and suffer a higher proportion of serious health problems than those from wealthier backgrounds.

Governments have an obligation to ensure that health care facilities and those working in them can operate in safety and without interference either from state or non-state actors, and to protect those receiving care.

Where services are not available to patients due to government action or inaction, the government, not the health practitioners, should be held responsible.

Noting that recent and ongoing conflicts in Bahrain and Syria have seen physicians, other health care personnel and their patients attacked while in health care facilities, the WMA demands:

That states fulfill their obligations to all their citizens and residents, including political protestors, patients and health care workers, and protect health care facilities and their occupants from interference, intimidation or attack.
That governments enter into meaningful negotiations wherever such attacks are possible, likely or already occurring to stop the attacks and protect the institutions and their occupants, and
That governments consider how they can contribute positively to the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross on promoting the safety of health care provision through awareness of the concepts within their project Health Care in Danger.