Assaults on staff, looting e armed occupations of its medical facilities or those supported in Sudanwhere the civil war. Lo staff and patients dell’humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders repeatedly undergo the violent action of armed groups who now steal medicines, medical supplies and vehicles on a daily basis. Contempt for humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law hampers the ability to MSF To provide health care for the populationat a time when there is a desperate need help.
“In a warehouse in Khartoum, refrigerators were unplugged and medicines were thrown away. The entire cold chain has gone haywire: medicines are no longer usable to treat patients. We are shocked and appalled by these deplorable attacks. People are in desperate conditions, these violent actions make the work of health workers really difficult. This is all just absurd.” he claims Francesca Arcidiacono, MSF head of mission in Sudanwhich speaks of “a systematic violation of humanitarian principles”.
MSFpresent in ten states of the Sudanhas been trying to ramp up its activities since intense fighting broke out between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, but raids, looting and armed occupations of its structureswhich add up to the administrative and logistical challenges, represent a huge obstacle to the activity of the organization. Since the beginning of the conflict, dozens of incidents have hit the structures, including thefts of diesel, vehicles, medicines, looting and destruction: theOMS as of May 22, it had recorded 138 attacks on health facilities.
What MSF is asking of all parties to the conflict is to guarantee the safety of medical personnel and health facilities, allowing the safe passage of ambulances and those seeking assistance, and facilitating the access and movement of workers of humanitarian organizations and medical supplies, at a time when the conflict it is having a terrible impact on the population, especially for those who live in Khartoum, Darfur or other areas where fighting is particularly intense. In these areas there are people with gunshot wounds, victims of sexual assaults, stabbings and explosions. Although on May 20, a cease-fire between the parties in conflict, this type of agreements, even previously, have never been observed: in this context theaccess to humanitarian aid and medical assistance it is fundamental, and it is fundamental that MSF can continue its business.