6-28 | At least 22 people are missing, and a pregnant woman died despite desperate efforts to resuscitate her, following the partial sinking of a rubber boat in the central Mediterranean Sea yesterday. Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) Search and Rescue team has brought 71 survivors from the flimsy sinking rubber boat on board our search and rescue vessel the Geo Barents, and is now urging the Maltese and Italian authorities to allocate a place of safety for the disembarkation of survivors as soon as possible.
3-3 | As hundreds of thousands of people are forced to escape, MSF is working on setting up emergency response activities in Ukraine and deploying teams in Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Teams are also ready to respond in Russia and Belarus. As the conflict continues in Ukraine, MSF is dispatching teams to Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to assess the needs of people crossing borders and respond to humanitarian needs. Teams are also present in Belarus and Russia ready to provide humanitarian assistance.
1-27 | Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have carried out six separate rescue operations in three days on board the search and rescue ship Geo Barents and rescued 439 people from the Central Mediterranean Sea who had fled Libya in search of safety.After two requests for a place of safety to the Maltese authorities were ignored and then denied, MSF is addressing Italian authorities for a port. The Geo Barents needs to urgently disembark these 439 survivors in a place of safety, where they can begin to receive the assistance they need with respect and dignity.
1-5 | Myanmar’s public healthcare system is in disarray. Days after the military seized power on 1 February, medical staff walked out of their jobs, spearheading the civil disobedience movement that saw government employees of all stripes go on strike. Most have not returned. Those on strike who continue to practice in underground clinics risk being attacked and detained by the authorities. At least 28 healthcare professionals have been killed since 1 February, and nearly 90 remain arrested.
12-17 | This International Migrants Day, on the world’s deadliest sea crossing, we are witnessing the harm caused by policies that protect borders instead of people.Here on the Geo Barents, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) search and rescue ship, we use the word ‘survivors’ to refer to the people on board who have been rescued from the sea.