A Year in Focus 2015-2016
Conflicts and migrations
COMENTARY: Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya… 2015 was a year of brutal and deadly conflicts. MSF
teams working in these countries strived to alleviate the suffering of civilians — the collateral
victims of war, when they were not the belligerents’ actual targets.
The massive upsurge in violence forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Along their
route marked by hardship, uncertainty and danger, the families encountered MSF teams
who were witness to another emergency — this time brought on by the indifference and
rejection shown by most of the countries the migrants passed through.
Syria
A year of sieges, airstrikes and terror
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5 years of conflict
Over 300,000 dead
More than half of Syrians are either internally displaced or seeking refuge in neighbouring
countries.
Despite a situation that requires the full range of MSF’s expertise, Syria is one of the most
difficult places for us to operate.
Dr Isabelle Defourny, Director of Operations, MSF, May 2016 (in French)
First of all, in this conflict the Damascus regime sees health facilities and workers as military
targets. And then, it’s also a conflict of extreme violence, with airstrikes hitting entire towns,
and civilians, schools and hospitals. It further intensified in September 2015 when Russia
weighed in. Whole sections of the population are inaccessible to humanitarian aid and relief
dispatched to people in some areas doesn’t get through, for example, it doesn’t get through
to civilians living in zones held by so-called Islamic State.
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After Islamic State abducted several members of MSF’s staff, all international staff were
pulled out of Syria.
Dr Isabelle Defourny, Director of Operations, MSF, May 2016 (in French)
So we have different types of projects. Some had been run with international teams for
several years, and most of the Syrian personnel were willing to stay on. We have teams in
Turkey who are in regular contact and we supply them with everything they need — drugs,
medical supplies, help with logistics. We also provide remote support from Turkey and Jordan
to around twenty Syrian medical facilities. We’re in contact with the doctors there and we try
to send them what they need as often and as quickly as possible.
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In 2015, the conflict and the airstrikes intensified
One of the hospitals we support, Marat Al Numan, was bombed several times and it’s in
ruins. In Aleppo, where there’s still fighting today, the town has been subjected to a series of
huge airstrikes and there are reports that many civilians and health workers have been killed.
Another important point concerns people trapped in Syria on the Turkish and Jordanian
borders who find it increasingly hard to get out of the country. But there are also those held
hostage in besieged towns — what we call enclaves — and there are reports, or at least
strong suspicions, of famine in at least some.
In view of the situation, we’re trying to extend our projects in Turkey. We want to increase
capacity to be able to tend to refugees arriving in Turkey and patients referred from Syria.
We’re also continuing our support to medical facilities. Depending on how the conflict
evolves, we may have to re-locate our operations. And we’re preparing for a situation in Iraq
that’s set to be extremely complex.
Amman
The wounds of the Middle East
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The new reconstructive surgery hospital in Amman opened in February 2015.
A larger facility, it delivers improved quality of care to victims of the wars in Yemen, Iraq and
Syria.
”When I got here, I had lost so much mobility in my hands, which were severely burnt, I
couldn’t feed my son or even brush his hair.” Nadel, a patient from Iraq.
Copyright : Chris Huby
EXILE
Fences and barbed wire
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«Rather than focusing on deterrence and surveillance