A Month in Focus – March 2015
Syria – 5 years of war
Jordan – Syrians seeking refuge across the border
Greece – Refugees blocked at the border
Greece – “The sea frightens all of us.”
Migration – Different stories, different journeys
France – “I want to forget all about Syria.”
Syria
Since the war began five years ago, half of the population of Syria has been forced to flee their homes.
From the start of the conflict, medicine has been used as a weapon of persecution.
After five years of war, it’s almost impossible to determine the exact number of victims. Added to the casualties caused by
the conflict are all those who have died at home: pregnant women, people with cardiovascular diseases, children who
should have been vaccinated. Because the past five years of war have also been five years of attacks on the provision of
healthcare – doctors thrown into jail, patients arrested in their hospital beds, medical centres bombed.
Dr Mégo Terzian, président de MSF France (in French)
“Syrian doctors we were working with were telling us about the humanitarian and medical situation in areas held by the
opposition in 2011. And we went public with that information. These doctors were already saying back then how difficult it
was for them to treat patients injured during demonstrations, and how they had to do it in secret.”
Having failed to obtain authorisation from the government to work in the country, MSF teams opened in 2012 six hospitals
and five outpatient health centres in areas controlled by opposition groups. And in places MSF couldn’t access, it set up a
support network for Syrian doctors providing them with drugs and medical supplies.
But after the abduction in 2014 of several staff members by so-called Islamic State, almost all the international teams were
pulled out of Syria.
Unable to obtain guarantees regarding the safety of its teams, MSF is now forced to limit its assistance to providing remote
support from neighbouring countries to Syrian doctors whose work was becoming more dangerous than ever.
Dr Mégo Terzian, président de MSF France (in French)
The situation deteriorated further in 2015 and during the first three months of 2016, after the Russian and Syrian air forces
stepped up their bombing raids in October 2015. So the health situation is even more dire than before. According to our
information, 63 hospitals were partially or totally destroyed in 2015, mostly in air strikes carried out by Syrian coalition
planes.
Given how impossible it has become to deliver medical care, many doctors have fled the country… especially the Idlib and
Aleppo regions that are the target of particularly heavy bombing.
Mahmoud, médecin, MSF (in Arabic)
We were risking our lives and we knew they could attack us at any moment. Many of my doctor friends who used to work
with me in Aleppo have been killed.
The situation is even worse in towns under siege like Madaya. Despite the intense media coverage of the humanitarian
convoys, their inhabitants continue to starve to death. It’s estimated that as many as one and a half to 2 million people are
in areas besieged either by the government or opposition groups.
Dr Mégo Terzian, président de MSF France (in French)
First off, people are frightened of going to health facilities, because they’re the target of systematic attacks. And even if
they’re brave enough, they often don’t get the medical care they need because they don’t have the necessary drugs to
treat, say, heart disease, or respiratory problems like asthma or diabetes. Even common illnesses, diarrhoea, for example,
aren’t being treated properly in areas under siege because of the drug shortage.
Confronted with all this, Syrians who can try and leave the country at the first available opportunity. More than 100,000
people are amassed along the Turkish and Jordanian borders… but these borders remain closed.
Jordan
Around 140,000 Syrian refugees live in Irbid in no