MSF Regrets Increasing Use Of Humanitarian Aid As Political Tool

Tankred Stoebe, a medical emergency coordinator at the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Berlin and former president of MSF Germany, told Sputnik that humanitarian assistance in conflict-torn zones is often "conditioned to political solution" and used as a tool despite the need for unconditional aid

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2019) Tankred Stoebe, a medical emergency coordinator at the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Berlin and former president of MSF Germany, told Sputnik that humanitarian assistance in conflict-torn zones is often "conditioned to political solution" and used as a tool despite the need for unconditional aid.

"More and more we see that aid is conditioned to a political solution and then it is politicized as well, while for us and for the people in need that aid needs to come in ... The civilians who are suffering because of the conflict need unconditioned aid. More and more we see nations say 'we will help you but only if you fulfill those conditions,'" Stoebe said.

He stressed that access to conflict areas was denied or made very difficult despite certain agreements under international humanitarian law that allowed providing independent medical care in conflict zones.

As an example, Stoebe mentioned Libya, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. According to MSF International, in Libya, which has been suffering from unrest since 2011, MSF medics delivered 30,200 outpatient consultations and distributed 23,400 relief kits in 2017 alone. According to the 2017 report on Yemen, where a full-scale war has been raging since 2015, MSF treated 9,500 Yemeni patients for intentional physical violence, including war injuries.