Palestinian medical students in Bangladesh: ‘Want to return and serve our people, but there’s no way home’

It has been more than six years since Samer O Matter arrived in Bangladesh, far away from his family in Gaza. He has not been able to visit home even once during this period; one attempt during the Covid-19 pandemic failed.

At the time of writing this piece, all border crossings into Gaza are closed. Israel has imposed a complete blockade since 2 March this year, halting all humanitarian and commercial supplies, including food, fuel, water, and medical aid. This is the longest closure in Gaza's history.

Samer grew up in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, located in the middle of the Gaza Strip. His family moved there during the Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948.

In 2006–07, young Samer first began to understand what was really happening around him. After Hamas defeated Fatah in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, the two parties engaged in violent clashes in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, which resulted in numerous casualties.

That is when things started to get complicated in Gaza and Samer's childhood took a turn for the worse.

Childhoods scarred by trauma

"In 2008, I witnessed a war for the first time in my life. I was in the third grade back then. When Israeli bombs rained down on Gaza, as a child, I thought it was Judgment Day. Everyone was running for their lives," Samer recalled.

"I was at school. When I came home, I saw my mother watching TV; images of dismembered bodies were being shown on the screen. That was my first trauma," he continued.

However, that was only the beginning of a never-ending nightmare. Samer did not experience a single day of peace from that time until the day he left Gaza for Bangladesh. He moved to Bangladesh in 2019 to pursue his medical studies. Today, he is an intern doctor at Sher-E-Bangla Medical College in Barishal.

"After the first war, it only continued — in 2012, then 2014, and so on. But after that first trauma, it all started to feel a bit normal. It's kind of like when a virus enters your body and you slowly build immunity to it," he said.

"Then again, we are human beings; this normalisation does not mean it stops hurting us. It still hurts," he added.

Despite the trauma the children in Gaza endure, they try to enjoy life as much as they can. "We have the most beautiful beach in the world — the Gaza beach. We used to go there, swim, and play football," Samer recalled, a slight smile crossing his face.

Samer has five members in his family back home — his parents and three younger brothers. He is the eldest son. Now, all he can do is stay in touch with his beloved family members over the internet and find out how they are doing and if they are still alive.

"The internet is obviously the only way to communicate with them. I'm lucky that my family has a stable connection where they live, but that's not the case for everyone in Gaza," he noted.

Samer has six fellow Palestinians in his class at medical college. Among them are Mohammed Nassrallah, who comes from Rafah, and Shukri, who is from Khan Yunis.

"Now I can communicate with my family every two to three days. But there was a time when I could not get in touch with them for more than a week due to poor or no internet connection. I did not know how they were, or whether they were even alive," Shukri said.

Their childhood is much like Samer's — deeply traumatic. Nassrallah and Shukri recalled the first time they witnessed a bombing back in 2008. They were at school when the first airstrike hit; the teacher tried to calm the students, saying it was nothing. But as the bombings continued one after another, the teacher urged them to go home.

"We were running with no sense of direction, just running for our lives," Shukri recalled.

Since the beginning of the latest war in October 2023, Israel has destroyed 90% of Rafah's residential neighbourhoods, Anadolu Agency reported last month, and the city has turned into ruins. 

"The place where I was born and raised now exists only in my memories," said Nassrallah.

A year ago, his family moved to Az Zawayda, a town in the northern part of Gaza. For Palestinians, displacement is a common reality. "Many in Gaza have to relocate several times, some as many as six times. We're lucky that we had to move only once," Nassrallah said with a sarcastic smile, adding, "We might have to move again — you never know."

Nassrallah has two brothers and one sister in the family. From his sister, he has a two-year-old niece named Mesk who he has never met yet.

Nassrallah showed me his phone and the lock screen lit up with a picture of Mesk's innocent, cheerful face. "I hope to see her soon, Insha'Allah," he said, his smile reflecting his boundless love for little Mesk.

For Palestinians, education is a form of resistance

Despite coming from a war-torn place, the Palestinians are highly passionate about education. In fact, their literacy rate is over 97%, one of the highest in the entire world.

And that is because Palestinians see education as a form of resistance.

"When you are occupied, you want to resist by all means. Not only by military resistance but also by education, culture and so on," Samer noted.

Nassrallah points out that illiteracy was one of the weak points of their ancestors during the time when Israelis were illegally seizing their lands back in 1948. They could not fully grasp what was happening — especially global news, analysis and discussions in English — which made the job easy for the Israelis. 

"So our families always push us to educate ourselves so that we can protect our rights and land. Becoming doctors, engineers, or teachers is a common dream for Palestinians," he said.

This makes it clear why Israel is systematically targeting the schools in Gaza. It is meant to quash the Palestinian spirit of resistance.

According to the United Nations, 93% of Gaza's 560 schools have been either destroyed or damaged since 7 October 2023. They have been directly bombarded by the Israeli army. Targets include government and private schools as well as those run by the United Nations. 

'I want to go home and serve my people'

There are currently 84 Palestinian students in Bangladesh, shared Badawee Ahmad, also an intern doctor at the same medical college and who is from the occupied West Bank. He is the president of the Bangladesh branch of 'General Union of Palestinian Students', the student wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Most of the Palestinian students come from the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. The majority are here to pursue MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) or BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degrees. Some are enrolled in other institutions, such as the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in Gazipur.

The key reason for this, Badawee says, is that medical education in Bangladesh is much cheaper than in Gaza. Moreover, Palestinian students receive scholarships from both government and non-government organisations. Also, they have seniors here to guide and support them.

"All the borders are closed. After years of struggle, I've finally become a doctor, ready to serve my people — but there's no way to return home. All I can do is watch them scream in pain through a mobile screen, I can't really explain how much it hurts."

Abdallah Mattar, medical graduate, Barishal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College and former resident, Rafah

Palestinian medical students around the world share a common heartfelt dream of returning to their homeland one day and serving their own people.

But even healthcare workers are not safe in Gaza. Wearing scrubs and white coats in Gaza is like wearing a target on their backs. More than 1,000 doctors and nurses have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since October 2023, according to a report by Middle East Eye.

The medical sector in Gaza is facing a severe crisis, with significant damage to infrastructure, shortages of essential supplies, and limited access to healthcare. Many hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, and those remaining operational are struggling with shortages of water, fuel and medical supplies.

The World Health Organization has verified 654 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since October 2023, resulting in 886 fatalities and 1,349 injuries.

"I don't care about the insecurity in Gaza — what matters to me as a doctor is that I must serve my own people. They need us badly," said Samer.

Samer, Shukri and Nassrallah will complete their internship in March 2026. However, that does not guarantee their return home until a ceasefire is in place. 

Take the situation of Abdallah Mattar, a senior student from their previous batch, for example. He has already completed his internship but could not return to his homeland yet.

"All the borders are closed. After years of struggle, I've finally become a doctor, ready to serve my people — but there's no way to return home. All I can do is watch them scream in pain through a mobile screen, I can't really explain how much it hurts," said Abdallah, who is from Rafah.

'If this much destruction does not make you act, then what will?'

Regrettably, nations around the world have been silently watching the genocide in Palestine. Apart from mere condemnation, they have yet to take any action. In fact, some authoritarian regimes in the Arab world are reluctant to support the Palestinian cause further, fearing it could harm their relations with major global powers.

"If this much destruction does not make you act, then what will?," asked Shukri.

"However, it's not about the people or country actually. It's all about the government who holds the power to act. But they don't due to diplomatic interests," Nassrallah added.

All of the Palestinian intern doctors showed love and gratitude to the Bangladeshi people for the latter's support. Earlier in April, at least 100,000 protesters filled the streets of Dhaka in a massive rally for Gaza. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and demanded an end to Israel's relentless assault. 

"In the past, when I used to say I am from Palestine, some people would say, 'Oh, Philistin!' But now, many ask further questions, like 'Which city in Palestine?' This shows that they know more about us now," said Shukri.

"Often, even rickshaw pullers refuse to take fare after knowing where we are from. We truly understand and appreciate their love," he added.

"We don't know where the war is heading, to be honest. Nobody knows. All we can do is to pray for our land and our people. Our wait is for a ceasefire for now. And for things to calm down in Gaza so we can go home to help our people," Abdallah added.