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Abandoned and burnt-out tents litter a muddy field in Grande Synthe nera Dunkirk in northern France. Some 2500 refugees hoping to make the crossing to the UK are living in deplorable conditions in this de facto refugee camp.
France

Frequently Asked Questions about MSF's work in Grande Synthe camp

Frequently Asked Questions about MSF's work in Grande Synthe camp, France. Project Update - 29 Jan 2016
 
I tried to call my bureau chief, but everyone was saying, please don’t call us. We cannot help you. Even my dearest friends, they refused to help me. I contacted so many embassies, so many human right organizations, I sent so many emails to my journalist friends, my life was in danger and nobody was able to protect me. What can I say. I couldn’t get a visa. The only way was to contact that human smuggler. It has been the most dangerous and painful journey of my life. I never faced this hardship in my life before and I never lived in these conditions. Sometimes I felt people were not accepting me.  I’m 51 years old and I worked 25 years as a journalist. Like me, many journalists in Pakistan are suffering. Journalists have been killed in Pakistan as a result of their work. My wife obliged me to go away. Now my family is hidden at the border with India. I left there my two sons and three daughters. I miss them too much that if I think about them I start crying.”
Italy

"My work is a real opportunity to help those in need, just like me."

"It's crucial to have someone who speaks your language, understands your situation, who reassures you on the legal process," says Jamal, an MSF cultural mediator in the reception center of Gorizia, Italy. "Being here is a new challenge for me. I can encourage and support these guys who come here. Me too, like them, despite the obstacles on my way, I’ve always tried to be strong and to reach my goals." Voices from the Field - 28 Jan 2016
 
General view of a displaced persons camp in Benzvi, Bangui.
Central African Republic

No hope of returning home anytime soon

"The living conditions in the sites are very difficult. They live in tents built of waste tarpaulins that are full of holes," says Reims Pali, MSF Assistant Field Coordinator in CAR."They sleep on mats on the ground and are exposed to mosquitoes which may carry malaria. Unless the security situation gets better, they will have to stay here in these camps.” Voices from the Field - 27 Jan 2016
 
The Shiara hospital, an MSF-supported facility in Razeh district (Northern Yemen), was hit by a projectile in northern Yemen on January 10thm resulting in five deaths, eight injured and the collapse of several buildings of the medical facility. One of the critical injured victim, passed away on Sunday 17th after being transferred to the ICU at the MSF hospital in Saada. More than 130 health centres and hospitals have been affected by the conflict ravaging the country in the last ten months.
Yemen

“I’d never before seen the level of casualties I saw in Saada. The scale of wounded was extreme.”

“I’d never before seen the level of casualties I saw in Saada. The scale of wounded was extreme,” says Michael Seawright, former MSF Project Coordinator in Yemen. Voices from the Field - 27 Jan 2016
 
The house of the Al Atrash family is full of pictures of their son. “The photos make us comfortable, you know, you feel that he is with you,” explains Foad Irfae Aref Al Atrash, the father of Annas Al Atrash.

Annas was 23 years old and the fourth in a family of eight siblings living in Hebron city in the West Bank. He was the manager of the family’s shoe business and responsible for looking after their income. He also worked selling trainers in the family’s shop in Jericho to tourists. On November 7th 2013 he was killed by an Israeli soldier while crossing a checkpoint by car.
Palestine

“You shot an innocent person and destroyed a whole family’s life.”

This month, Occupied Minds looks at how checkpoints, restriction of movements, are affecting the life of the Palestinian population. Annas was 23 years old and the fourth in a family of eight siblings living in Hebron city in the West Bank. He was the manager of the family's shoe business and responsible for looking after their income. On 7 November 2013 he was killed by an Israeli soldier while crossing a checkpoint by car. Voices from the Field - 26 Jan 2016
 
The Shiara hospital, an MSF-supported facility in Razeh district (Northern Yemen), was hit by a projectile in northern Yemen on January 10thm resulting in five deaths, eight injured and the collapse of several buildings of the medical facility. One of the critical injured victim, passed away on Sunday 17th after being transferred to the ICU at the MSF hospital in Saada. More than 130 health centres and hospitals have been affected by the conflict ravaging the country in the last ten months.
Yemen

"They didn’t realise that the missile had hit the hospital itself."

"The border with Saudi Arabia is only half an hour away so everyone here is used to the sound of bombs and rockets," says Teresa Sancristoval, Head of MSF’s emergency desk, about the 10 January attack on Shiara hospital. "Knowing it had hit somewhere nearby, they set about preparing for mass casualties. What they didn’t realise was that the missile had hit the hospital itself, and soon they would be treating their own colleagues and patients.” Voices from the Field - 25 Jan 2016
 
The Shiara hospital, an MSF-supported facility in Razeh district (Northern Yemen), was hit by a projectile in northern Yemen on January 10thm resulting in five deaths, eight injured and the collapse of several buildings of the medical facility. One of the critical injured victim, passed away on Sunday 17th after being transferred to the ICU at the MSF hospital in Saada. More than 130 health centres and hospitals have been affected by the conflict ravaging the country in the last ten months.
Yemen

Health facilities under attack - MSF wants answers

MSF medical activities in Yemen have come under attack four times in less than three months, each incident more serious than the last.“Four of our medical facilities have been attacked in four months in Yemen and Afghanistan,” Press Release - 25 Jan 2016
 
A rapid detection test (RDT) indicates a patient is positive for malaria. Four-year-old Agok, was being carried by his mother, Akuot Yel, when MSF outreach manager and nurse Abdifatah Mohamed encountered them walking from their village of Maluil to the nearby private clinic in town. Yesterday, Akuot took her son to the government-run primary health care unit (PHCU) nearby but they found nobody there. It was closed. PHCUs have no trained personnel to administer quinine intravenously, and often have no oral ACT medication in stock, so they do not open at all, thinking that there is nothing for them to do for patients that come in, the vast majority of which suffer from malaria. The private clinic in town would have cost Akout 15 SSP for the test, and 80 SSP to purchase the medicine needed. Akuot has two twins at home who are also ill, but Agok's state was most serious. Akuot can't afford medication for three sick children all at once so she tried to take care of Agok first. She could have received free medicine at the the government-run health care center in Panthui, but the walk will take about two hours, and there was no guarantee that they will have medicine in stock. The PHCU has a car to provide free transportation for patients that need to be referreed to Panthou health care center for treatment, but that wasn't an option for Agok since they found the PHCU closed. Later, Abdifatah also found Agok had symptoms of severe anemia. Abdifatah, en route to Panthui, offered Akuot and Agok a ride to the health care center there. At home, they use a mosquito net that they received from an NGO who distributed them in the area two years ago. It is old now and tearing.
Disease prevention

Five epidemics to watch

Five diseases with the potential to become epidemics in 2016 are being highlighted by MSF. “We know that thousands of lives will be at risk in the year to come. Press Release - 25 Jan 2016
Four mothers posing in a corridor of the Hospital in Bili. All four of them are staying in the hospital with their child, that's suffering from a severe case of malaria. Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the pediatric ward already treated more than 4.000 cases of complicated/severe form of malaria.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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