Valuing human life above all else

Never before have we seen so many people displaced from their homes. Today, there are 65.3 million refugees around the world. This number may seem insurmountable, it may seem that nothing can solve this, and it’s true that if we stand by and watch, nothing will be solved. But if we choose to act, and act with compassion then there are many victories we can win.

A question I have been hearing more and more recently is: Why does Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) spend its time and resources pulling people from the Mediterranean Sea?

It’s a fair question. After all, there is nothing in our name that mentions search and rescue, we’re not a coastguard and we’re certainly not a government. But in just 36 hours (June 9–10), the three MSF vessels currently conducting operations in the Mediterranean managed to pull 1,300 people from the water and more than 3,000 people have been rescued since operations recommenced in April. This was a victory. When people are pulled from the sea, many are overwhelmed with relief and all are exhausted. Recently, a woman rescued by our teams went into labour, giving birth in a matter of hours. The arrival of a rescue ship, complete with medical equipment could not have been more timely.

The simple answer is that while people continue to risk their lives without safe passage, while people continue to drown, we cannot stand by and watch. While this may not be a conventional operation for us, our primary aim is always to save lives and alleviate suffering wherever possible.

We will continue with our search and rescue operations, and we will continue to treat refugees who arrive on European shores (in the last 18 months, MSF has treated more than 200,000 people in Europe). But we cannot turn a blind eye to the policies that push people to risk their lives in these sea crossings; the policy of deterrence and the absence of safe passage.

Since the beginning of this year, more than 2,800 people have died at sea — that’s an increase of 1,000 people in comparison to the same period last year. These deaths are unacceptable. Approximately 50,000 people remain stranded in Greece, in undignified conditions and with little access to basic services. The inertia that allows this to continue is unacceptable. The migration deal under negotiation between the European Union (EU) and Turkey is a key illustration of the issues here. The governing body for almost an entire continent has suggested paying a country already hosting over three million refugees to take more.

These policies of deterrence have been the key in producing the situation we see today. If we are to see a real difference made to the lives of refugees stranded across Europe and the Mediterranean, there must be a significant change in policy. Safe and legal passage must be provided so that people can apply for asylum in a humane manner, there must be a concerted effort to rescue more people from the sea and dignified reception conditions must be provided.

As things stand, MSF can no longer accept funding from the EU or European governments. This refusal is in opposition to the continuing attempts to distance suffering from European shores.

We are not here to assign blame, but there is a voice that must be heard. It is not the voice that offers political or economic reasoning for this crisis. It is the voice that says human life is precious, that no border, nor immigration policy nor movement, is worth more than human life.

Mohamed Bali is the executive director in UAE for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). He has more than 13 years’ experience in humanitarian aids and development fields. In MSF, he is responsible for leading MSF-UAE in accomplishing its social mission of significantly participating in and contributing to the effective provision of medical humanitarian assistance to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters or exclusion from health care.