A LETTER TO MĖDECINES
SANS FRONTIÈRES
(MSF)
Dear
colleagues,
my
motivation for this letter is based in deep respect towards your
organization. In past I was able to learn a lot following MSF work
and reading literature you published. For this reason I would like to
say that the role of MSF in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not on the
level of the reputation and particularly the role of its legal
representative does not meet my expectation.
Let
me introduce myself: I am a GP and Global Health spec. volunteering
in Bosnia last eight months (Velika Kladuša and Bihać) with the
purpose of helping medical care of refugees and migrants. We put
special efforts in education of volunteers in-field medics and
forming volunteers
medical teams (VMT).
I
started working with refugees and migrants in 2015 as a part of
Slovenian EMS. Latter also as medical coordinator of Médicins
du Monde in Slovenia, then I co-founded Slovenian humanitarian
medical organization Doctors for Asylees where I still serve as a
president, then I joined an organisation of volunteers S.O.S. Bosnian
Frontier also as an medical coordinator. It is five year now that I
continually work with refugees and migrants in the Balkans. I am also
invited lectorer at Summer Shool of University of Crete and Ljubljana
on the topics of International Medicine.
Our
VMT in Velika Kladuša makes over 700 documented medical intervention
per
month and also
significant number of undocumented medical assistance doing at the
same time storage and distribution of NFI and restaurant for refugees
and migrants. A physician located within former wild camp Trnovi (400
migrants) during 6 hours of work per
day (case of
myself) usually made over 100 documented consultations, examinations
and medical interventions apart from „official“ (not-volunteer)
humanitarian medical assistance of MSF (not placed in the camp).
These
figures, I hope, are for you enough telling for relevant conclusions.
I
also hope, being probably
one of the rare
experts
for the field of Global Health in the Balkans, that you will be
interested in very
brief presentation
of health situation of migrants and refugees in Bosnian Frontier. The
three major problems of migrants and refugee health in Bosnian
Frontier are:
1.Massive
violation of human rights (1), (2)
2.Low
level of hygiene
3.Psychological
pressure
Until
now, during eight months of my participation in Bosnian refugee and
migrants crisis, the MSF did not do any thing in the field above
mentioned three
main causes of
illness among the refugees and migrants. Not a single thing. I write
this with full responsibility. That is how we came to the question of
your legal representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I
suppose that Mr. S.M. Is not responsible for the whole situation. The
MSF appeared in the field in June 2018 having not yet permission to
work in B&H (like that, without
permission to work,
MSF acted
in the field 5
months, until October 2018). This of course opens new questions
because until June 2018 refugees and migrants were integrated in the
local community health care what stopped with appearance of MSF (3).
I
only met the MSF legal representative in Bosnia during the FB
discussions. I reacted one evening when MSF legal representative
verbally attacked one of our volunteer in-field medic complaining for
being tired of much work because of big number of patients. He said
„volunteers work so hard, paid NGO are just passing by like being
all corrupted“. Our volunteers do not sleep in hotels or hostels
but in field in very similar conditions as refugees and migrants.
Very often they are exhausted
especially those ones working long time. I think that the MSF legal
representative must understand with whom he speaks and also to show
an extent of compassion to volunteer humanitarian work. Instead
he started to attack him verbally. The communication with me and MSF
legal representative resulting from described situation is documented
(4). Later he continued attacking
me in the FB. I have heard from other volunteers about similar
experiences with the MSF legal representative. He then tried to call
me by phone in very different parts of the day but I never answered.
The situation lasted a bit. He showed very low respect to the job of
physician acting like a „power“. I think poverty
of Bosnian people made him think about superiority that can be used
in different ways. I have no other explanation. Thank
you for your time.
Dimitar
Anakiev
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