2011 Canadian Tour Dates


Snapshots of MSF’s Work with Refugees and Internally Displaced People

Quick Links: Somalia | Colombia | Sudan | Iraq | Hmong in Thailand | Democratic Republic of Congo

Somalia

Somalia 2006 © Espen Rasmussen

Last week alone, over 500 severely malnourished children were admitted to our nutritional programs. One out of six of these children needed to be hospitalized due to medical complications. If this trend continues, malnutrition may soon affect more of the general population such as children over five-years-old and vulnerable adults. The situation is tragic and we are unable to provide the aid necessary to prevent further deterioration of the situation.

– Bruno Jochum, 2008

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Internally Displaced People 1,550,000 (fifth highest in the world)
Refugees 678,300 (third highest in the world)
Refugees fled to Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen, South Africa
Conflict began in 1991
MSF began work in 1991
MSF staff 1,201
MSF activities
  • Primary health care
  • Treatment of malnutrition
  • War surgery
  • Water-and-sanitation programs
  • Vaccination
  • Epidemic responses
MSF concerns
  • Lack of humanitarian space to reach large parts of the country due to insecurity
  • Targeting of aid workers
  • Violence against civilians
  • High rates of malnutrition among children
  • Difficulty for population to reach health structures because of fighting

Colombia

Colombia 2007 © April Baller/MSF

MSF works in …a dense jungle region heavily affected by the conflict. The population often does not have access to basic health care. We reach these populations through our mobile clinics where we travel for hours by car and by canoe, guided by indigenous people.

– Tony Tomasouw

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Internally Displaced People 3,304,000 (the highest in the world)
Refugees 389,00 (sixth highest in the world)
Refugees fled to Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil, Panama
Conflict began in 1960s
MSF began work in 1985
MSF staff 327
MSF activities
  • Primary health care
  • Mental health care
  • HIV/AIDS treatment
  • Treatment of sexual violence
  • Water-and-sanitation programs
MSF concerns
  • Violence against civilians
  • Lack of access for IDPs to government healthcare services
  • Massive mental trauma among population

Sudan


Sudan 2007 © Sven Torfinn

After the eruption of the fighting on May 14…nearly 50,000 people have been forced to flee Abyei area. Almost all of them left with no personal belongings, they only have the clothes they were wearing when the fighting started. They are scattered over a wide area because they fear new attacks. It also means that the majority of the displaced have no shelter and access to food or clean water. MSF is also very worried about malnutrition as our hospital in Abyei admitted 80 children in the last week before the evacuation and our teams were planning to extend their activities to cover all the needs, which were huge. In our outpatient department the global malnutrition rate had risen over 50 percent before the fighting started.

– Andreas Papp

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Internally Displaced People 1,034,100 (sixth highest in the world)
Refugees 368,200 (seventh highest in the world)
Refugees fled to Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
Darfur conflict began in 2003
Southern Sudan conflict 1983-2005
MSF began work in 1979
MSF staff 2,458
MSF activities
  • Primary health care
  • Treatment of malnutrition
  • Water-and-sanitation programs
  • Treatment of sexual violence
  • Epidemic responses
  • War surgery
  • Vaccination
  • Mental health care
MSF concerns
  • Lack of humanitarian space to reach parts of Darfur due to insecurity
  • Violence against civilians
  • Renewed violence in the south despite the peace agreement
  • Alarming malnutrition rates in the south

Iraq

Iraq 2007 © Geert Van Kesteren

Humanitarian aid saves lives today, until peace, until reconstruction, until development, maybe. But humanitarian action never builds much; it concentrates on saving lives now until they can be rebuilt tomorrow. It is not hopeful, it is immediate and it has to be judged on its capacity to be with victims in their hour of need and to help them survive the crisis, the war or the epidemic. On this count, Iraq more than any other conflict today shows up the limits of humanitarian assistance.

– Christopher Stokes

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Internally Displaced People 1,552,000 (third highest in the world)
Refugees 1,785,200 (second highest in the world)
Countries fled to Syria, Jordan
Conflict began in 2003
MSF began work in 2003; 2004 left due to insecurity; 2006 returned
MSF staff 289
MSF activities
  • War surgery in Jordan, Iran, and northern Iraq
  • Supply of drugs and medical equipment to select Iraqi hospitals
  • Training of Iraqi medical providers
MSF concerns
  • Lack of humanitarian space to reach the most vulnerable people due to insecurity
  • Destruction of Iraqi health infrastructure
  • Violence against civilians
  • Multiple surgeries and lengthy recovery and rehabilitation for surgical patients due to nature of injuries

Hmong

Thailand 2007 © Greg Constantine

Families have been torn apart. One of our Hmong staff members who joined the protest has been sent back to Laos without her children and we know of other similar cases. Many of these refugees have expressed grave fears at the prospect of being sent back to Laos.

– Gilles Isard

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Internally Displaced People No statistics available
Refugees in Thailand 6,000 living in one camp but being forcibly returned to Laos
Why Hmong are fleeing Laos Persecution for collaboration with US government during Vietnam War
Dates of conflict 1960-1975
MSF began work in 2005
MSF staff 25
MSF activities
  • Water-and-sanitation programs
  • Nutritional programs
  • Primary health care
  • Mental health care
  • Advocacy on behalf of refugees as only international witness to their plight
MSF concerns
  • Forced repatriation of hundreds of refugees and planned repatriation of thousands more to Laos by the Thai government in violation of the UN Convention on Refugees

Domocratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

DRC 2005 © Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

The displaced persons and the so-called host villages are reaching the end of the line. As the months go by, their survival mechanisms are reaching the limit. These people are exhausted, increasingly weak, and consequently, increasingly ill.

– Anna Halford

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Internally Displaced People 2,052,700 (second highest in the world)
Refugees 455,900 (fourth highest in the world)
Countries fled to Angola, Congo Republic, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Conflict began in 1997
MSF began work in 1981
MSF staff 2,832
MSF activities
  • Primary health care
  • Treatment of sexual violence
  • HIV/AIDS programs
  • Water-and-sanitation programs
  • War surgery
  • Treatment of malnutrition
  • Epidemic response
  • Vaccination
  • Mental health care
MSF concerns
  • Violence against civilians in eastern region
  • High levels of sexual violence and mental trauma
  • Constant renewed displacements of already exhausted and traumatized people
  • Epidemic outbreaks of cholera and measles