Greece: MSF forced to close COVID-19 centre on Lesbos

July 30, 2020

ATHENS – A COVID-19 isolation centre set up on the island of Lesbos, Greece, by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to close, after local authorities imposed fines with potential criminal charges, related to urban planning regulations. MSF strongly condemns the...

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

May 18, 2020

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,...

COVID-19: Vulnerable communities are bracing for impact of COVID-19

March 21, 2020

Op-ed by Jonathan Whittall, Head of humanitarian analysis How are you supposed to wash your hands regularly if you have no running water or soap? How can you implement ‘social distancing’ if you live in a slum or a refugee...

Syria: People in northwest Syria continue to struggle despite truce

March 19, 2020

The military offensive carried out by the Government of Syria and its allies in northwest Syria has led to almost a million people in the Idlib region becoming displaced in the space of just four months. People have had to flee from their homes...

Mediterranean migration: Ocean Viking arbitrarily quarantined by Italian authorities over COVID-19 fears

February 28, 2020

As Italy was hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak late last week, the Ocean Viking, the search and rescue ship operated by Doctors Withour Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and SOS MEDITERRANEE, was put under quarantine following the disembarkation of 276 people rescued at sea...

Syria: Afraid of the bombs: why people discuss the weather in northwestern Syria

January 9, 2020

Intense military offensives by the Government of Syria and its allies in southern Idlib governorate, Syria, involving shelling, aerial bombing and ground offensives, have resulted in a massive new movement of people to escape the war zone. The northern part of Idlib,...

Libya: Trading in suffering: detention, exploitation and abuse

December 26, 2019

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...

Venezuelans in Colombia: an unattended crisis

December 18, 2019

The migration of Venezuelans into Colombia represents the second largest population movement in the world, yet the international community is largely ignoring the dire situation of the migrants and asylum seekers. The humanitarian response remains severely limited, particularly in rural areas affected by...

DRC: Extra humanitarian assistance urgently needed in southern North Kivu crisis

December 16, 2019

KINSHASA – For years, the territories of Masisi, Walikale and Rutshuru, in the southern part of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, have been plagued with armed violence and banditry. In the past months, these armed clashes have intensified, further aggravating the...

Mediterranean migration: Survivors disembark in Italy amidst deadly week in the Mediterranean

November 25, 2019

Amsterdam/Marseille - As the 213 people rescued by the Ocean Viking last week disembarked in Messina, Italy, SOS MEDITERRANEE and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have repeated their calls to EU governments to cease hindering lifesaving Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, and to ensure a...

Mediterranean migration: European leaders must urgently allow disembarkation of 104 survivors

October 28, 2019

SOS MEDITERRANEE and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) call on a broad coalition of European States to urgently facilitate the assignment of a port to the Ocean Viking and to finally put in place a predictable and coordinated disembarkation mechanism,...