Editing Médecins Sans Frontières (section)

==Security risks to staff==
MSF staff are sometimes attacked or kidnapped. In some countries, humanitarian-aid organisations are viewed as helping the enemy. If an aid mission is perceived to be exclusively set up for victims on one side of the conflict, it may come under attack. However, the [[War on Terrorism]] has generated attitudes among some groups in US-occupied countries that non-governmental aid organisations such as MSF are allied with or even work for the [[Multinational force in Iraq|Coalition forces]]. Insecurity in cities in Afghanistan and Iraq rose significantly following United States operations, and MSF has declared that providing aid in these countries was too dangerous.<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |year=2004 |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=AFD10C9A-295E-4D22-ACE5288B95D16ED0&method=full_html |title=Independent aid in Iraq virtually impossible |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035719/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=AFD10C9A-295E-4D22-ACE5288B95D16ED0&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=12 January 2006 }}</ref> The organisation was forced to evacuate its teams from Afghanistan on 28 July 2004,<ref>MSF Article (2004) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=214D2417-531E-4697-B99AC6DA03F9573D&method=full_html The real reasons MSF left Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428171716/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=214D2417-531E-4697-B99AC6DA03F9573D&method=full_html |date=28 April 2007 }} MSF. Retrieved 12 January 2006.</ref> after five staff (Afghans Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah, Belgian Hélène de Beir, Norwegian [[Egil Tynæs]], and Dutchman Willem Kwint) were killed on 2 June in an ambush by unidentified militia near [[Khair Khāna]] in [[Badghis Province]].<ref>MSF Article (2004) [http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=8851DF09-F62D-47D4-A8D3EB1E876A1E0D&method=full_html MSF pulls out of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216120054/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=8851DF09-F62D-47D4-A8D3EB1E876A1E0D&method=full_html |date=16 February 2006 }} MSF. Retrieved 17 January 2006.</ref> In June 2007, Elsa Serfass, a staff member with MSF-France, was killed<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=63149873-15C5-F00A-25ECDD99509574EF&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html |title=MSF: Ongoing insecurity in CAR threatens lives of civilians and humanitarians, blocking urgent medical care |publisher=msf.org |access-date=4 August 2009 |last=MSF Press Release |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035837/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=63149873-15C5-F00A-25ECDD99509574EF&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in the Central African Republic and in January 2008, two expatriate staff (Damien Lehalle and Victor Okumu) and a national staff member (Mohammed Bidhaan Ali) were killed in an organised attack<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=D45AE41F-15C5-F00A-25FA38BD021FCE9A&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html |title=MSF: MSF is shocked and outraged by attack on our team in Somalia |publisher=msf.org |access-date=4 August 2009 |last=MSF Press Release |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035847/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=D45AE41F-15C5-F00A-25FA38BD021FCE9A&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Somalia resulting in the closing of the project.

Arrests and abductions in politically unstable regions can also occur for volunteers, and in some cases, MSF field missions can be expelled entirely from a country. [[Arjan Erkel]], Head of Mission in [[Dagestan]] in the [[North Caucasus]], was kidnapped and held hostage in an unknown location by unknown abductors from 12 August 2002 until 11 April 2004. Paul Foreman, head of MSF-Holland, was arrested in Sudan in May 2005 for refusing to divulge documents used in compiling a report on rapes carried out by the pro-government [[Janjaweed]] militias (see [[Darfur conflict]]). Foreman cited the privacy of the women involved, and MSF alleged that the Sudanese government had arrested him because it disliked the bad publicity generated by the report.<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |year=2005 |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=32EAA200-E018-0C72-090A4E6450259A24&method=full_html |title=MSF shocked by arrest of Head of Mission in Sudan – charged with crimes against the state |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035816/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=pressrelease&objectid=32EAA200-E018-0C72-090A4E6450259A24&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=11 January 2006 }}</ref>

===Incidents===
{{See also|Kunduz hospital airstrike}}
Below is a partial list of notable incidents of direct violence against MSF staff or facilities, in chronological order:
* 14 August 2013: MSF announced that it was closing all of its programmes in Somalia due to attacks on its staff by [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]] militants and perceived indifference or [[Desensitization (psychology)|inurement]] to this by the governmental authorities and wider society.<ref name=Wmdtls>{{cite web |last=Karunakara |first=Unni |title=Why MSF decided to leave Somalia |url=http://www.msf.org/article/why-msf-decided-leave-somalia |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref>
* 3 October 2015: Fourteen staff and 28 others died when an MSF hospital [[Kunduz hospital airstrike|was bombed]] by [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|American forces]] during the [[Battle of Kunduz (2015)|Battle of Kunduz]].<ref name="msf.org">{{cite press release |url=http://www.msf.org/article/afghanistan-msf-demands-explanations-after-deadly-airstrikes-hit-hospital-kunduz |author=Christopher Stokes |date=4 October 2015 |title=Death toll rises |publisher=Médecins Sans Frontières}}</ref>
** On 7 October 2015, US President [[Barack Obama]] issued an apology.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Shear|first1=Michael D.|last2=Sengupta|first2=Somini|date=2015-10-07|title=Obama Issues Rare Apology Over Bombing of Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Afghanistan|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/asia/obama-apologizes-for-bombing-of-afghanistan-hospital.html|access-date=2019-10-01|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Doctors Without Borders was not satisfied by Obama's apology.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kheel|first=Rebecca|date=2015-10-08|title=Doctors Without Borders not mollified by Obama apology|url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/256341-after-obama-apology-doctors-without-borders-continues-pressing-for|access-date=2019-10-02|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]}}</ref>
* 27 October 2015: An MSF hospital in [[Sa'dah]], Yemen, [[Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen|was bombed]] by the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Saudi Arabia-led military coalition]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/27/yemen-hospital-hit-by-saudi-led-airstrikes |title=Airstrikes hit Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Yemen |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 October 2015 }}</ref>
* 28 November 2015: An MSF-supported hospital was barrel-bombed by a Syrian Air Force helicopter, killing seven and wounding forty-seven people near Homs, [[Syria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msf.org.uk/article/syria-barrel-bombing-of-msf-supported-hospital-kills-seven |title=Syria: Barrel bombing of MSF-supported hospital kills seven |publisher=Msf.org.uk |date= December 2015|access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref>
* 10 January 2016: An MSF-supported hospital in Sa'dah was bombed by the [[Saudi Arabia]]-led military coalition, killing six people.<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |url=http://www.msf.org/article/msf-supported-hospital-bombed-yemen-death-toll-rises-six |title=MSF-supported hospital bombed in Yemen: death toll rises to six |date=17 January 2016 }}</ref>
* 15 February 2016: Two MSF-supported hospitals in [[Idlib District]] and [[Aleppo]], Syria, were [[Airstrikes on hospitals in Yemen|bombed]], killing at least 20 and injuring dozens of patients and medical personnel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/air-strike-destroys-syrian-medical-centre-a6874676.html |title=Syrian war: Suspected Russian air strikes destroy two hospitals – despite so-called Syria 'ceasefire' |work=The Independent |date=15 February 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/feb/15/msf-hospital-maaret-al-numan-syria-video |title=MSF-supported hospital bombed by Russian Air Force in Northern Syria |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=15 February 2016 }}</ref> Both Russia and the United States denied responsibility or being in the area at the time.<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |publisher=[[CBS News]] |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-syria-blame-us-airstrike-msf-hospital-clinic-idlib-aleppo-civilians/ |title=U.S. and Russia both deny bombing Syrian clinic |date=16 February 2016 |access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref>
* 28 April 2016: An MSF hospital in Aleppo was bombed, killing 50, including six staff and patients.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Kareem Shaheen in Beirut |author2=Ian Black |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/28/deadly-airstrike-on-hospital-aleppo-syria-reports-say |title=Airstrike on MSF-backed Aleppo hospital kills patients and doctors |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2016-04-28 |access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref>
* 12 May 2020: an MSF-supported hospital in [[Dasht-e-Barchi]], [[Kabul]], Afghanistan, was attacked by an unknown assailant. The attack left 24 people dead and at least 20 more injured.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.msf.org.uk/article/kabul-hospital-attack-they-came-kill-mothers|title=Kabul Hospital Attack: 'They came to kill the mothers' |work=Médecins Sans Frontières |date=15 May 2020}}</ref>
* 25 June 2021: Three MSF employees were reported killed in [[Tigray, Ethiopia]].<ref name="reuters-3-killed-tigray">{{cite news |title=Three MSF employees killed in Ethiopia's Tigray, aid agency says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-msf-employees-killed-ethiopias-tigray-aid-agency-says-2021-06-25/ |access-date=26 June 2021 |work=[[Reuters]]|date=25 June 2021}}</ref>
* 18 November 2023: An evacuation convoy of MSF vehicles was attacked in [[Gaza, Palestine]] during the [[Gaza war]], resulting in deaths of two family members of MSF workers with one being a volunteer supporting MSF at [[Al-Shifa Hospital|Al Shifa Hospital]]. MSF reported "MSF considers that all elements point to the responsibility of the Israeli army for this attack".<ref>{{Cite web |last=manpreet |date=2023-12-01 |title=MSF convoy attacked in Gaza: all elements point to the responsibility of the Israeli army |url=https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/msf-convoy-attacked-in-gaza-all-elements-point-to-the-responsibility-of-the-israeli-army/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF ...}}</ref>