MSF, Doctors Without Borders, to no longer take funds from EU

[Independent voter]

Doctors Without Borders refuses to take EU donations. A bunch of misguided hippies if you ask me. The US bombs one of their hospitals but apparently US money is okay.






http://www.msf.org/en/article/201606...ardy-worldwide

Brussels - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced today that it will no longer take funds from the European Union and Member States, in opposition to their damaging deterrence policies and intensifying attempts to push people and their suffering away from European shores.

This decision will take effect immediately and will apply to MSF’s projects worldwide.

Three months into the EU-Turkey deal, which European governments are claiming as a success, people in need of protection are left counting its true human cost. On the Greek Islands, more than 8,000 people, including hundreds of unaccompanied minors, have been stranded as a direct consequence of the EU-Turkey deal. They have been living in dire conditions, in overcrowded camps, sometimes for months. They fear a forced return to Turkey yet are deprived of essential legal aid, their one defense against collective expulsion. The majority of these families, whom Europe has legislated out of sight, have fled conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“For months MSF has spoken out about a shameful European response focused on deterrence rather than providing people with the assistance and protection they need,” said Jerome Oberreit, International Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières. “The EU-Turkey deal goes one step further and has placed the very concept of “refugee” and the protection it offers in danger.”

“Once again, Europe’s main focus is not on how well people will be protected, but on how efficiently they are kept away.”
Last week the European Commission unveiled a new proposal to replicate the EU-Turkey logic across more than 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East. These deals would impose trade and development aid cuts on countries that do not stem migration to Europe or facilitate forcible returns, rewarding those that do. Among these potential partners are Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan – four of the top ten* refugee generating countries.

“Is Europe’s only offer to refugees that they stay in countries they are desperate to flee? Once again, Europe’s main focus is not on how well people will be protected, but on how efficiently they are kept away,” said Oberreit.


Guillaume Binet/MYOP
Samos, Greece. Since the agreement between Europe and Turkey made on 18 March 2016, Greece has turned refugee camps into detention camps. Refugees are sorted and wait to be sent back to Turkey for those who came after 20 March.
The EU-Turkey deal sets a dangerous precedent for other countries hosting refugees, sending a message that caring for people forced from their homes is optional and that they can buy their way out of providing asylum. Last month, the Kenyan Government cited European migration policy to justify their decision to close the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, sending its residents back to Somalia. Likewise, the deal does nothing to encourage countries surrounding Syria, already hosting millions of refugees, to open their borders to those in need.

“Europe’s attempt to outsource migration control is having a domino effect, with closed borders stretching all the way back to Syria. People increasingly have nowhere to turn,” said Oberreit. “Will the situation in Azaz where 100,000 people are blocked between closed borders and front lines become the rule, rather than the deadly exception?”

The EU-Turkey deal’s financial package includes one billion euros in humanitarian aid. There are undoubtedly needs in Turkey, a country which currently hosts close to three million Syrian refugees, but this aid has been negotiated as a reward for border control promises, rather than being based solely on needs. This instrumentalisation of humanitarian aid is unacceptable.

“Deterrence policies sold to the public as humanitarian solutions have only exacerbated the suffering of people in need. There is nothing remotely humanitarian about these policies. It cannot become the norm and must be challenged,” said Oberreit. “MSF will not receive funding from institutions and governments whose policies do so much harm. We are calling on European governments to shift priorities - rather than maximizing the number of people they can push back, they must maximize the number they welcome and protect.”

[Deleted]

oh well, the EU shouldn't be giving them money in the first place imo, i think the EU should be doing more to keep refugees out, not funding groups that want more.

at least this group has some morals in that they won't accept money off groups they don't agree with, ill give them credit for that.

[Theinquisition]

oh well, the EU shouldn't be giving them money in the first place imo, i think the EU should be doing more to keep refugees out, not funding groups that want more.

at least this group has some morals in that they won't accept money off groups they don't agree with, ill give them credit for that.

I also feel that maybe if they weren't also offering treatment to the fighters in those countries creating the refugees, maybe the problem wouldn't be as pronounced.

[Independent voter]

I put in a bad title. I should've used

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, snubs EU donations over poor treatment of refugees

[Karamaru]

Watever happened to "Pecunia non olet" I dont know if this is a bad thing or a good thing.

[Spectral]

I do not believe MSF should receive funds from governments anyway, so this strikes me as a positive. Europeans that do not wish to pay for the medicine of non-Europeans should not be forced to do so.

[Zogarth]

So... how is it punishing EU to not take their free money? Free money is good. If North Korea wanted to give me free money I would take it.

[Spectral]

So... how is it punishing EU to not take their free money? Free money is good. If North Korea wanted to give me free money I would take it.

I don't think you're getting how virtue signaling works - by denying Europeans the ability to give their treasure to third-worlders, MSF is labeling itself as the good guy and taking away the EU's ability to conspicuously signal its virtue. As we all know in the current year, merely confiscating money from European citizens and giving it to the third-world isn't nearly virtuous enough on the EU's part - they also need to donate land, housing, and cultural resources to avoid being a bunch of hateful, xenophobic, bigots.

[Dezerte]

This seems short-sighted and dumb, money is money and if it helps people it has seen good use.

[Deleted]

"You will find 185 European subsidies and calls for proposals available for non profit-organisations."

Consultants exist, whose only business is telling NGOs how to skim off EU subsidies. There should be some common sense, restraint and control what do do with taxpayer money.

[Acidbaron]

oh well, the EU shouldn't be giving them money in the first place imo, i think the EU should be doing more to keep refugees out, not funding groups that want more.

at least this group has some morals in that they won't accept money off groups they don't agree with, ill give them credit for that.

They do a whole lot more than to just 'serve refugees', reason i support them financially every month. I guess in your world the only way to discourage people is to gas or bomb them leave them to die, funny how those actions created groups like IS so all in all those camps prevent creating more extremists, you know the refugees that actually pose a real problem.

[Spectral]

This seems short-sighted and dumb, money is money and if it helps people it has seen good use.

Well sure, providing medical care to people in need might seem like the point of MSF, but if they can't conspicuously declare that they're better people than everyone else, what's the point?

[Tijuana]

Does it get more arrogant than trying to punish a group by not taking their money?

[Wildtree]

Only proves (once again) that being an academic doesn't mean you're intelligent...