MdM’s regional annual booklet is out now, and includes a review of our missions, activities and figures in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq for 2018. Available here
MdM’s regional annual booklet is out now, and includes a review of our missions, activities and figures in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq for 2018. Available here
Born in Jerusalem, Muzian has always thought of herself as a refugee. She was married in 1955 in Duraa, South Hebron Hills and moved to Jerusalem to live in Mu’askar, a camp established for 1948 refugees in what today is the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. There, she had eight children, but only five survived.
Due to the degrading conditions in this camp, the authorities managing the camp were promoting the displacement to a new camp, Shu’fat. While most of the people from Mu’askar were moved between 1965 and 1966, Muzian, her husband and five children stayed there. In July 1967, in the wake after the Six-Day War, together with her husband and her children were forced to move to Shu’fat, taking only what they could carry in their hands.
When they arrived to the camp, only few buildings had been constructed and surrounded by mountains of garbage, several tents were being installed every day. They were extremely poor. Despite the assistance given by the UN, their conditions were extremely harsh. Initially, the camp was expected to host about 500 families. The family of seven was put together with other six people in a room of 13X7 meters and had to share toilets with their neighbors.
They had lost it all. Yet, her husband, with little money borrowed from his family, established a small shop and her children, after going to school, worked at her brother’s bakery in the old town. After settling down, she had another six children.
With time, the little small shop became a well-known minimarket and her husband built a bigger house, just across the street from the first small space. Her children grew up, started getting married and some were able to leave the country.
After 52 years of being a refugee, living in the narrow streets of Shu’fat, today Muzian can no longer walk, but is surrounded by her family. Half of her children still live with her in Shu’fat. Jihad Abu Znaid, one of her sons, is the director of MDM’s local partner organization Woman’s center.As the origin of three generations, Muzian has a total of 125 descendants. Despite some moving out, they are all registered as Palestinian refugees.
Today, based on UNRWA’s figures, there are 1.5 million refugees distributed in 85 camps and the Shu’fat refugee camp hosts approximately 24,000 people, including 12,000 registered refugees. Despite having been illegally annexed, together with the rest of East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities built a separation wall in 2003, cutting the camp residents off from the rest of Jerusalem.
Among other locations, MDM works in Shu’fat refugee camp providing protection and mental health and psychosocial support to ex-detainee children and young adults, as well as their families. Within a holistic approach, and in collaboration with local partners, the objective is to facilitate their reinsertion to school, improve family cohesion and raise awareness on detention and its consequences.
Paris and Istanbul, 16 May 2019 – Since 28 April, the violence in Idlib province in northwest Syria has intensified. The civilian population continues to bear the brunt of persistent attacks that have forced more than 180,000 people to flee to the north of the country.
Over the past eight years, the various parties to the conflict have regularly targeted health facilities and workers – 102 were killed in 2018 alone. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis deepens in Syria.
Médecins du Monde – Doctors of the World fears this escalation in targeted attacks on health facilities and civilians initiated in Idlib province on 28 April will trigger a dire humanitarian crisis in the region:
“Given that the worst is yet to come, the international community must be unequivocal in its response. After eight years of uninterrupted conflict, the civilian population feels increasingly abandoned and people are at the end of their tether. Health facilities and NGOs providing assistance on the ground have neither the resources nor the capacity to respond to such huge influxes of displaced and wounded civilians,” deplores Hakan Bilgin, President of Médecins du Monde Turkey.
For the past eight years, civilians have been the principal victims of the conflict. And once again, in the densely populated province of Idlib where three million people live – 1.3 million of them already internally displaced by previous military offensives – it is civilians who are paying the heaviest price.
“This new wave of attacks may force the displaced to flee all over again. Idlib was the only place in Syria where they could find refuge, and we’re worried there’s nowhere left for them to go. The fighting has backed them into a corner and they’re trapped. With each passing day, Syria becomes a forgotten crisis,” decries Dr Philippe de Botton, President of Médecins du Monde France.”
Médecins du Monde – Doctors of the World urges the international community to take bold and immediate action to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and respond to an unprecedented humanitarian and health emergency. As the crisis deepens, withdrawing humanitarian and financial aid in the short or medium-term cannot be an option.
Press contact:
Insaf Rezagui: insaf.rezagui@medecinsdumonde.net
00 33 (0)1 44 92 14 86 – 00 33 (0)6 09 17 35 59
In 2018, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (a coalition of 30 institutions and NGOs, which Médecins du Monde is a member) documented a total of 973 attacks on health in 23 countries in conflict. At least 167 workers died in attacks in 17 countries, and at least 710 were injured. Hospitals and clinics were bombed and burned in 15 countries.
Aerial attacks continued to hit health facilities in Syria and Yemen. The number of documented attacks represents a significant increase from our last report of 701 attacks in 23 countries in 2017. However, it cannot be determined whether this higher number signifies a greater number of attacks in 2018 than in 2017 or an improvement in reporting mechanisms, in light of the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Surveillance System of Attacks on Healthcare (SSA). We incorporated data from six of the eight countries and territories that the WHO currently reports on, and it remains likely that the true number of attacks is even higher than reported overall.
March 27, 2019 – March 30, 2019 will mark one year since the Great March of Return (GMR) demonstrations started in the Gaza Strip. In its report to the Human Rights Council released on 18 March 2019, the United Nations independent international commission of inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CoI report) found reasonable grounds to conclude that Israeli forces, in violation of both international human rights and international humanitarian law, killed and gravely injured civilian protestors who neither were participating directly in hostilities, nor posing an imminent threat to life. According to UN figures, since the 30 March 2018 start of the demonstrations in Gaza, 266 Palestinians, including 47 children and three health workers, have been killed, with over 29,000 injured.1 The mass influx of casualties has overwhelmed an already overburdened healthcare system in the Gaza Strip and exponentially increased medical assistance needs.
AIDA, a network consisting of more than 80 international NGOs operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, demands for all states party to the Geneva Conventions to take urgent action to halt the killing and maiming of protestors in the Gaza Strip immediately and to prevent any further such actions directed at protestors in the Gaza Strip. Regardless of the alleged or actual political affiliation of protestors, international law prohibits the use of lethal force against civilian protestors unless they participate directly in hostile acts that pose an imminent threat to life.
In addition, the right to peaceful assembly and expression is guaranteed under international human rights law. Inits actions in Gaza Strip boundary areas, international human rights law requires that Israel’s security forcesrespect the rights to peaceful assembly and expression and that these forces use, to the greatest extent possible, non-violent means in discharging their duties. Living under layers of occupation, blockade, and political division, Gaza Strip Palestinians feel abandoned and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict. With the Gaza Strip unemployment rate standing at a staggering 54%, poverty at 53%, and food insecurity skyrocketing to 68%, Gaza Strip Palestinians are left with little hope or tangible prospect for a brighter future. The rights to assembly and expression are critical tools that must be protected so that Palestinians preserve a peaceful means to send their message to the world about the crisis they are living under in the Gaza Strip and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory.
AIDA supports the recommendation made by Michael Lynk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, to the UN Human Rights Council on 18 March 2019 for Israel to lift its suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately. Special Rapporteur Lynk correctly identified it as the source of a multitude of serious human rights and humanitarian law violations. He further demanded full accountability for the unlawful behavior of the Israel military, adding that if Israel will not conduct its own investigations into the mass shootings according to international standards, then the international community must itself address the vital accountability and command responsibility issues raised by the conduct of its military forces against Gaza Strip protestors.
The GMR demonstrations coincide with an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip that has harshly impacted livelihoods, access to the most basic services and personal human security for its two million residents. Decades of land closure, maritime and airspace blockade, and an accompanying draconian Israeli movement and access restriction system have driven this intensifying crisis, culminating in the imposition of an effective siege, over the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the entire Gaza Strip population, over half of whom are children under the age of 18, has been collectively punished for acts they individually have not committed. This position is shared by the United Nations, as expressed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2016.2
Massive current gaps in funding for humanitarian and development assistance for the Gaza Strip’s increasingly vulnerable population compound a highly volatile and precarious reality for the Gaza Strip’s isolated population,approximately 70 percent of whom are refugees. Significant cuts to relief and service providers, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in particular, have fundamentally hampered the provision of life-sustaining emergency food and medical aid, access to primary healthcare, education and other critical support.
Accordingly, and in light of increased tensions and rounds of escalation in recent weeks and days, AIDA calls upon:
1 World Health Organization Health Cluster Situation Report occupied Palestinian territory, Gaza February 2019
2 “The Closure of Gaza Suffocates its people, stifles its economy and impedes reconstruction efforts. It is collective punishment for which there must be accountability.” UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon 28 June, 2016
Photo: Reuters
Médecins du Monde welcomes the report of the UN independent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and joins the general condemnation of violence against civilians and in particular that aimed against women, elderly people, children, persons with disabilities, journalists, and healthcare workers.
Since the beginning of the demonstrations in March last year, MDM has been witnessing first-hand the evident severe impact of the use of live ammunition against civilians and health workers. Almost 7000 injured civilians have challenged the already weakened health system, stretching it to its limits. A large number of them are part of the over 9’000 people currently waiting for surgical care, with 1200 of them at risk of developing osteomyelitis. This is only one aspect that reflects the massive influx of trauma casualties.
In this context, MDM is also witness of the impact of those disabilities on mental health, as well as of the psychological consequences of all the traumatic experiences of lethal violence Palestinians are exposed to, especially children.
Worried by the unparalleled number of direct attacks against healthcare workers in Gaza, MDM drafted a public report analysing the particular vulnerability of Palestinian health NGOs. This report was shared with the Commission of Inquiry.
In this report, MDM observes that Palestinian health NGOs face unprecedented levels of violence against its personnel, structures and ambulances. These attacks and the death of their colleagues have also left strong psychological scars.
Beyond the atrocious violations of international law, the impact of these violations is difficult to quantify or measure through the untold stories of those who died or suffer serious life-long consequences because those who were supposed to help were killed or incapacitated.
MDM takes thus this opportunity to remind all actors that attacks on healthcare workers, structures and ambulances should never occur: neither in times of peace nor in times of war. They represent serious violations of IHL and IHRL.
MDM thanks again the CoI for its report and recommends the Human Rights Council and its members to:
Photo: euronews
International non-government organisations (INGOs) in Yemen strongly condemn the horrific attacks in Hajjah governorate on Sunday which according to the UN killed 22 people – twelve women and ten children – and injured many more. Hajjah has seen an increase in tensions and fighting in recent weeks; thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and are in need of humanitarian aid and many more are reportedly trapped by the fighting and cannot flee to safety or reach help. These horrific incidents show that innocent civilians including children continue to pay the price for a conflict in which they have no say.
As well as attacks in Hajjah, the last few days have seen a major outbreak of violence in Hodeidah city after three months of reduced violence following the Stockholm Agreement and a ceasefire. Over 650,000 people have fled from Hodeidah governorate since June 2018, and those who remain in the city are often the poorest and most vulnerable.
This latest fighting is a signal to the world that the four-year conflict in Yemen is far from over. While the fragile UN- led peace process continues and the eyes of the world are on Hodeidah, the international community needs to also pay attention to Hajjah, and other areas of Yemen where violence is increasing. Civilian casualties are reported on a daily basis and thousands continue to be displaced, increasing the risks of famine, cholera and severe malnutrition.
We call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and consider the catastrophic impact this is having on innocent Yemeni civilians. Women and children in particular must be protected from harm, and people who have been forced to flee their homes must be assisted as an urgent priority. Immediate and unimpeded access must be granted so that humanitarian organisations and donor governments can scale up their response and cover the most urgent needs.
After four years of war the humanitarian needs in Yemen are of a magnitude higher than ever before, demanding international attention and action. These latest attacks in Hajjah demonstrate the desperate need for peace, and we call on the international community to ensure an independent investigation and to demand that the perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable.
Amman and Paris, 12 March 2019 – 15 March marks the eighth year of a conflict seen less and less on our screens but which is all too real for people in Syria where impunity continues to reign supreme. Humanitarian needs, including for healthcare, are immense for the civilian population left devastated and shattered by a seemingly never-ending conflict. The Conference on Syria beginning in Brussels today, 12 March, must provide a robust response to these needs. Médecins du Monde – Doctors of the World (MdM) calls on the international community to not disengage from this crisis and step up its support to humanitarian aid organisations.
After eight years of a downward spiral, this humanitarian disaster has become intolerable not only for civilians remaining in Syria but also for those who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries:
“After eight years of a devastating conflict, we thought we must have seen the worst. But as the years pass, there is increasing cause for alarm. The media’s lack of interest in what’s happening must not make us forget the ongoing tragedy, which notably affects health workers. How is it conceivable that Syria is the most dangerous country for medical staff, with 120 workers were killed in 2018? 70% of attacks on health workers in the world occur in Syria,” says Dr Philippe de Botton, president of MdM.
The Conference on Syria must at last take account of humanitarian needs
This is the context of the third international Conference on Syria beginning in Brussels today. Deployed in the country for many years, MdM is participating in the Conference to ensure humanitarian needs, which include health, are central to the discussions.
MdM calls on the European Union, United Nations and the region’s governments to not consider the Syrian emergency over, but to strengthen their commitment. The international community must respond to health needs and provide the means necessary to ensuring continuity in services left in shreds after eight years of conflict.
The Conference must also reiterate the necessity to comply with international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of health workers and the provision of medical care.
Photo: ©Reuters
Contact press: Insaf Rezagui – insaf.rezagui@medecinsdumonde.net 06 09 17 35 59
In August 2014, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/ al-Sham) attacked Sinjar, targeting the Yezidi community. ISIS started executing men and abducting thousands of people, mainly women and children. One of the abducted families included an aged father and mother and an 8 year-old boy. Once abducted, ISIS members took the father away from the family to an unknown place, and then separated the 8 year-old boy from his mother.
The mother was subjected to physical, sexual and emotional violence, she was sold as a slave to various men in Mosul. After two years, relatives were able to find the mother and buy her freedom. The mother was taken to Chamesku camp. One year afterwards her son was also found, and brought to the camp to be reunited with his mother.
The mother arrived experiencing high levels of distress from the numerous traumatic events she had suffered. She started experiencing nightmares flashbacks, and constantly feared that ISIS fighters would kidnap her again. Once she arrived in Chameshku camp, she visited MdM PHCC in the camp and was automatically referred by the medical doctors to MdM’s mental health worker who provided emotionally-supportive counselling sessions for the mother and also referred her to a psychiatrist in Dohuk to receive specialist input.
Her son was also in need of mental health and psychosocial support. The boy had lived for 3 years under ISIS rule, the members of which also forced him to work as a servant. He experienced severe abuse and was subjected to ISIS education/propaganda materials which aimed to train him on various methods of violence. The boy was trained to identify different types of weapons and learnt how to make explosive devices. He was also trained in the ISIS boot camps which exposed him to methods of torture and beheadings. Immediately on arrival to the camp, the camp management identified a need for MHPSS support for the young boy and referred him to MdM’s mental health workers.
The mental health workers noticed his behaviour was not typical for a child his age and he endorsed strong radical beliefs. The boy had no interest in socializing with other children or adults. His mother also reported that he was aggressive at home. When in the camp, he continued following ISIS activities on social media and TV, and he refused to have sessions with our female MH worker due to her gender and the fact that she did not wear a hijab.
The MdM mental health worker conducted a home visit to the boy and over time began to build his trust and convince him to attend sessions at the PHC. The mental health worker supported the mother and extended family of the child to reduce the pressure they were placing on him in an attempt to change his beliefs and ideologies. The mental health worker emphasised the importance of the mother showing unconditional love and acceptance towards the boy, while refraining from engaging in ideological debates.
The mental health worker encouraged the boy to have a daily routine, which included helping his mother in some household tasks but also to socialise with other children and start to play some sports. The boy agreed to be enrolled in group activities with other children, during these sessions he had the opportunity to communicate with children his own age. MdM also supported his registration to attend school as another opportunity to socialise with children and to help to build a healthy future. The mental health worker supported his transition to school by working closely with the school manager and the teachers to ensure he was fully supported and to ensure he felt safe and secure in the school environment.
The boy is now able to interact with other children, he has also begun to feel comfortable in his new school and is showing a strong commitment to achieving academically. He continues to join the group sessions with other children, and happily socialises, showing good communication skills. His favourite activities are drawing, singing and playing football. He no longer follows the videos or activities of ISIS and his relationship with his mother has improved greatly.
Humanitarian organisations in Yemen congratulate parties to the conflict on the cooperation and persistence that have led to the most positive agreements seen for Yemeni civilians in more than three years. These represent a significant step on the road to real and lasting peace in Yemen and could have a transformative impact on a humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people.
The willingness of parties to the conflict to work jointly on a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Taiz is extremely welcome. Their agreement to a ceasefire in Hodeidah, the removal of military manifestations and actions to facilitate freedom of movement have the potential to make a substantial difference for millions of people. We are very encouraged to see that parties intend to meet again in January and hope the next round of consultations will go further towards delivering a nationwide ceasefire and an end to the war. We urge both parties to enable the participation of children and youth in this process, and to ensure that women represent at least 30% of those at the table, so that all have the opportunity to contribute to sustainable peace.
As humanitarian organisations delivering aid in Yemen, we have visibility of a crisis that is largely obscured from global view. The implications of the conflict on Yemeni civilians are far-reaching, long-lasting and necessitate the full, ongoing support of the international community. We would like to thank and commend the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, for his tireless efforts in coordinating the peace process, and for his conviction that peace in Yemen is possible. We are bolstered by the progress seen this week and committed to continuing to deliver humanitarian aid and protection to the millions who need it.