Refugees

MSF leaves Polish border after being blocked from assisting people

by

AMSTERDAM – Three months after sending an emergency response team to assist migrants and refugees crossing from Belarus to Poland, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has withdrawn teams after being repeatedly blocked by Polish authorities from accessing the forested border region, where groups of people are surviving in sub-zero temperatures, in desperate need of medical and humanitarian … Read more

Greece: All people in Moria camp must be evacuated to safety in wake of destructive fire

by

Nearly 12,000 men, women and children have been forced to evacuate Moria refugee camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, after a fire tore through the camp during the night of 8 September. While the fire is not believed to have caused any deaths, the camp was almost completely burned down, and people are now on the … Read more

Greece: Greek government must end lockdown for locked up people on Greek islands

by

COVID-19-related lockdown measures have had an impact on the lives of everyone around the world and generated increasing levels of stress and anxiety for many of us. However, the restriction of movement imposed in places like Moria and Vathy, on the Greek islands, have proven to be toxic for the thousands of people contained there. … Read more

Five things we can do to protect people on the move during COVID-19

by

The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting the world’s most vulnerable. Among them are more than 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide – refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people (IDPs) – as well as migrant workers, including undocumented migrants. Many of these men, women and children live in formal and informal camps, reception centres, or in detention centres. … Read more

Greece: Evacuation of squalid Greek camps more urgent than ever over COVID-19 fears

by

ATHENS – The overcrowded and horrific living conditions in the camps – or  hotspots – on the Greek islands provide the perfect storm for a COVID-19 outbreak, warned Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Given the lack of adequate sanitation services and the severely limited medical care, the risk of the virus spreading amongst the inhabitants of the camps … Read more

Greece denies healthcare to seriously ill refugee children on Lesbos

by

ATHENS – In Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, the Greek government is deliberately depriving at least 140 children with chronic, complex and life-threatening diseases of adequate medical care. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling on the Greek government to act on these grave medical concerns and evacuate all severely ill children to … Read more

Libya: Trading in suffering: detention, exploitation and abuse

by

At the end of 2017, horrific images of migrants sold as mere commodities in Libya were travelling around the world. This sparked a global outcry and pushed many leaders, in Europe, in Africa, in Libya, to promise measures to protect refugees and migrants from abuse and slavery-like conditions. However, two years later, nothing has really … Read more

Central American Migration: More people kidnapped, abused on migration route in southern Mexico

by

MEXICO CITY —Teams working in Tenosique, Mexico for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are reporting an increase in kidnappings and an escalation of violence faced by migrants and refugees on Mexico’s southern border. In testimonies collected in recent weeks by MSF staff providing medical and psychological care to migrants travelling through southeastern Mexico, patients speak of abductions, torture, extreme … Read more

Greece: Greek and EU authorities deliberately neglecting people trapped on islands

by

Some 24,000 men, women and children seeking protection in Europe are trapped on the Greek islands in horrendous conditions while being deliberately neglected by Greek and European authorities, says Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The harmful crisis, which is undermining the well being of thousands of vulnerable people, is the result of a faulty … Read more

On board the Ocean Viking: “We feel humbled by their courage”

by

After each of the four rescues, the MSF medical team completes a primary medical assessment, examining the medical needs of the rescued people. As well as assessing the physical scars, wounds and other conditions requiring immediate medical attention, we identify those who require additional psychological support. When the rescued people come on board the Ocean … Read more