German hospitals fear labour shortages if Syrians leave

Berlin: German hospitals and other employers fear worker shortages if many Syrian refugees return home after the fall of president Bashar al Assad, a...

Berlin: German hospitals and other employers fear worker shortages if many Syrian refugees return home after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, a concern backed by a study released Friday.

Health care providers have warned that more than 5,000 Syrian doctors work in German medical facilities, often in rural areas, and that they and other staff would be hard to replace.

Europe's biggest economy has taken in around one million refugees from war-ravaged Syria in an influx that peaked in 2015 under ex-chancellor Angela Merkel.

While they were initially greeted warmly, the mass arrivals sparked a backlash that fuelled the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Since the fall of Assad, conservative and AfD politicians have called for Syrians to return to their homeland despite lingering insecurity there.