A Month in Focus – May 2016
Migration - MSF resumes search and rescue activities in Mediterranean Sea
Syria - Al Quds hospital destroyed in airstrikes.
A Fair Shot - MSF delivers petition demanding reduction in price of pneumonia vaccine
Uganda – Fishing community severely affected by HIV/Aids
The MSF Supply Chain
Libya - “Just being a doctor is not enough to save people’s life”
NEWS
FOCUS SEA AND RESCUE
In 2015, given the European Union’s refusal to offer them legal and safe alternatives, almost
one million people seeking to flee to Europe had no other choice than to risk their lives at sea.
4,000 people drowned in 2015. In 2016, in spite of the increasingly coercive measures
adopted by the EU, migrants desperate to flee continue to attempt the crossing. Bursts of joy… Grateful to be aliveA few hours earlier, in the Central Mediterranean Sea, their boat was about to sink. In spite of the very bad weather, their small rubber boat took to sea at around midnight, not far fromnear Tripoli...The teams on board the Bourbon Argos came to the refugees’ rescue: 121 people in all, including 28women and 6 children.
Sebastian Stein, field coordinator, MSF (in English)
They are wet from the rain and they are in a very distressed situation. A lot of people are scared. But
now it’s good to have them on deck. They are all safe. We are trying to give them a dignified reception. After Dignity 1 was deployed off the Libyan coast a month ago, the Bourbon Argos too resumed its search and rescue operations, with a team of doctors, nurses andlogistics experts on board. Later that evening, the refugees landed on the Italian coast. A third MSF team is on the Aquarius, again, ready to provide assistance off the northern coast ofLibya.
Sebastian Stein, field coordinator, MSF (in English)
Many people die at sea and this is the responsibility of the European community who should offer them
a safe and a legal passage instead of this dangerous and useless journey.Since 20 March, migrants arriving clandestinely on the Greek islands are automatically sent back toTurkey.
Dr Mégo Terzian, Predient of MSF France (in French)
This is an unacceptable policy, and an attack on the values of the European Union.
We need a fast-track system, probably with humanitarian visas, to let the refugees in. They must be
allowed to choose their final destination. It’s not by preventing them or closing a border that they’re
going to stop people coming to Europe. 2 months after the signing of the deal by Brussels and Ankara, the chaos continues in Greece. 12,000 migrants and refugees have been living — or rather surviving — in this camp in Idomeni since Macedonia closed its borders.
ROLKAN, young mother from Syria (in Arabic):
“Conditions in the camp are really bad as you can see. There are germs everywhere because there
aren’t enough toilets available. So children just get up and go to the toilet outside. And there are a lot
of insects too. They bite the kids and it increases the risk of them getting sick. The situation is really
bad.”Given the scale of the health emergency, MSF has this month launched a vaccination campaign. In 3 days, over 3,000 children were vaccinated against 10 diseases such as diphtheria, hepatitis B,polio and pneumonia.
Conor Kenny, doctor, MSF (in English):
And they’ve been put in this very vulnerable position and from a medical point of view they are now
exposed to a number of disease and illness and it’s entirely unnecessary and this really needs to change.
Something really needs to happen.” 50,000 migrants and refugees are still stranded in Greece, some are in transit camps, and others arelocked up in hotspots far beyond the maximum limit established for administrative detention. MSFhas appealed to the Greek authorities and European Union to open immediately the gates at thesecentres.
SYRIA
On April 27th, the MSF-supported Al Quds hospital in Aleppo was bombed.
The hospital had been deliver