Editing Médecins Sans Frontières (section)

=== 1970s ===
[[Claude Malhuret]] was elected as the new president of Médecins Sans Frontières in 1977, and soon after debates began over the future of the organisation. In particular, the concept of ''témoignage'' ("witnessing"), which refers to speaking out about the suffering that one sees as opposed to remaining silent,<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |title=MSF's principles and identity – The challenges ahead |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=F75AB4F5-E018-0C72-093A3A517D56EB33&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035852/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=F75AB4F5-E018-0C72-093A3A517D56EB33&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref> was being opposed or played down by Malhuret and his supporters. Malhuret thought MSF should avoid criticism of the governments of countries in which they were working, while Kouchner believed that documenting and broadcasting the suffering in a country was the most effective way to solve a problem.

In 1979, after four years of refugee movement from South Vietnam and the surrounding countries by foot and [[Vietnamese boat people|by boat]], French intellectuals made an appeal in ''[[Le Monde]]'' for "A Boat for Vietnam", a project intended to provide medical aid to the refugees. Although the project did not receive support from the majority of MSF, some, including later Minister [[Bernard Kouchner]], chartered a ship called ''L'Île de Lumière'' ("The Island of Light"), and, along with doctors, journalists and photographers, sailed to the [[South China Sea]] and provided some medical aid to the boat people. The splinter organisation that undertook this, [[Médecins du Monde]], later developed the idea of [[humanitarian intervention]] as a duty, in particular on the part of Western nations such as France.<ref>Richard Seymour, ''The Liberal Defense of Murder'' (London 2008), p. 174.</ref> In 2007 MSF clarified that for nearly 30 years MSF and Kouchner have had public disagreements on such issues as the right to intervene and the use of armed force for humanitarian reasons. Kouchner is in favour of the latter, whereas MSF stands up for an impartial humanitarian action, independent from all political, economic and religious powers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2053 |title=Dr. Bernard Kouchner and MSF: A Clarification, 22 May 2007 |publisher=Doctorswithoutborders.org |access-date=3 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927220144/http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2053 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>