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re Medecins Sans Froniteres, Burma,



Subject: re Medecins Sans Froniteres, Burma, from Euro-Burmanet

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<hr>
Headline: Medecins Sans Frontieres: Update June 1996
Keywords: June crisis, NLD ban,  National League for Democracy (NLD), 
Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights, political prisoners, torture, murder, 
execution, rape, Slorc abuses, refugees, MSF, Medecins Sans Frontieres, 
Hlaingthayar , Shwepyitharen , Rohingyas, Karen, Mon,
Date: June 27, 1996 
Source: Euro-Burmanet 
Section: ebn
Rubrique: main

Euro-Burmanethas received information from the Dutch Burma desk of MSF 
(Medicins sans frontieres), the international organisation of wome 3 000 
volunteers working in 64 countries throughout the world. The French 
section of MSF has been having a hard time with Slorc, having sent an 
investigatory mission last year, whose results and approach to Slorc was 
rejected last September. MSF France was forced to shut down their Rangoon 
office in January. MSF France currently has five missions in Thailand, 
and one on the Thai-burmese border camps to aid Karen and Mon refugees 
battling malaria.  

Since 1992, MSF has been active in Bangladesh, bringing aid to the 
Rohingya refugees; MSF denounced forced repatriation of Rohingyas to 
Burma by the Bangladesh government in a report published in January 1993.

Today, Euro-Burmanet received the following  information to be soon 
published in the 1995/1996 Annual Report - from the MSF Burma desk, Dutch 
Section, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 

For more information, please contact the  MSF Burma desk manager, Jeroen 
Jansen, 
E-mail: hq@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(11) Burma (Myanmar)

1/ Medical facilites for minorities without rights
2/ Burma has been subject to repression and poverty for years. Daily life 
is controlled by the military junta which is firmly in charge. Forty per 
cent of the Burmese population belongs to one of seven eethic minorities 
who are virtually without any rights: no right to full citizenship; no 
right to paid work; no right to health care. In recent years, hundreds of 
thousands of Burmese civilians have fled to Bangladesh and Thailand. In 
1992, Burma reopened its borders after 26 years of international 
isolation. In 1993, MSF started a medical aid programme for the very 
poorest.
4/ Rangoon project
5/ start February 1993

" / Rangoon's townships are the direct result of the Burmese government's 
'tidying mania'. Over the past years, an estimated 250,000 people have 
been banished from Rangoon to former rice paddies on the far side of the 
river. The townships that were erected there are flooded for half of the 
year. Living conditions in this boggy area are appalling. There is little 
if anymedical care, a shortage of medicines, medical supplies and clearn 
drinkin water, and there are no sanitary facilities. In February 1993; 
MSF started an aid project in these townships, initially focussing on 
support for the small hospitals, outpataient clinics and health posts in 
the townships of Hlaingthayar and Shwepyitharen and the improvement of 
the water supply and sanitary facilities. Since surveys pointed to very 
high sickness and mortality rates, MSF is providing essential drugs and 
medical and surgical supplies, as well as training for the local health 
workers. Because women and children are the most vulnerable groups in the 
townships, the MSF team has set up two small mother and child care 
clinics. In two feeding centers, malnourished children are given 
supplementary rations. The organisation also carries out a 
tuberculosis-control programme in a hospital and two health cneters and 
gives information about AIDS prevention. 

4/ Arakan project
5/ start January 1994

" / Because MALARIA is the MOST SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM in Arakan 
Province, MSF has set up a malaria-control progrmme. Existing medical 
facilities were provided with the necessary lab equipment for an accurate 
and quick diagnosis of malaria. Local medical personnel are trained in 
how to treat malaria patients. According to a recent MSF survey, most of 
the population has become resistant to the existing drugs. 

In 1996, malaria prevention and a study into the effect of other 
medicines will therefore be a priority.

In 1995, many tens of thousands of Rohingyas, Burmese Muslims who fled to 
Bangladesh, were forcedly repatriated. MSF wants to closely monitor the 
health and living conditions of these people and to try and set up 
medical provisions for this group.

This from the " 1994/95 MSF Activity Report "

Burma (The Union of Myanmar)
Context

The Burmese people continue to be victims of political repression and 
international isolation. Although, in 1992, the country opened its 
borders, change has been very slow in coming and the international 
perception of Burma is that of a military regime which flouts universal 
conventions on human rights and systematically represses its people. The 
many reported cases of forced labour and child labor worry human rights 
organisations. Forty percent of the population belong to one of the seven 
ethnique groups in the country and, thus, havae no right to full 
citizenship, income or health care. Persecution and fighting have caused 
hundreds and thousands of Burmese to flee to the neigbouring countries of 
Bangladesh and Thailand.

MSF Rangoon project was launched in February 1993 (and closed own this 
year, in January, after a long difficult relationship with Slorc 
-ed.Euro-Burmanet). The emphasis ws on making medical care accessible to 
the shanty town dwellers. In the past few years, 250,000 people have been 
forced by the Burmese government to move to Hlaingthayar and Shwepyithar; 
two townships near the capital. Lilving conditions are abominable. Health 
structures are lacking in medicine and medical material and  have little 
or no equipment. MSF supports
hospitals, outpatient clinics and health centres  in the two townships. 
An important part of the project is the registration of illness and 
mortality rates. MSF supplies the necessary medicine and medical supplies 
and sometimes surgical materials. Malnutrition is rife. Two feeding 
centers were set up by MSF in Hlaingthayar and staff training provided. 
In May 1994, MSF ran an anti-cholera campaign when the epidemic broke out 
in two districts. 

The Arakan project was launched in Janurary 1994. Malaraia, the country's 
worst health problem, is endemic in this region which is near the border 
with Bangladesh. MSF has provided existing medical structures with 
necessary laboratory equipment and provided staff training.

Funding: MSF, WHO, UK  Australian and Japanese governments
Expatriates: 14

This also from the Medecins Sans Frontieres Activity Report 1994-1995 :

SPEAKING OUT
Medecisns Sans Frontieres considers that speaking out on wide scale or 
systematic human rights abuses to which it is a witness is an important a 
part of its mission as its work in the field. There are two principal 
purposes to such speaking out.

INFORMATION
In general, Medecins Sans Frontieres promotes the defence of humanitarian 
principles and the right to humanitarian aid (free access to victims and 
the right to control the distribution of aid). But MSF also attemps to 
draw the attention of the international community to the plight of 
populations in danger, particularly when they are given little media 
coverage. In certain cases, MSF will encourage an international 
humanitarian response (Rwanda 1995).

DENUNCIATION 
Denunciation is not a tool used by MSF as a matter of course, It is its 
rarity value which contributes to its effectiveness. When MSF considers 
it to be in the interest of the vicims, it will denounce massive and 
repeated violations of human rights and /or of humanitarian law, such as 
the crime of genocide, forced movements of population, genocide, crimes 
against humanity and war crimes, etc.

MSF is very aware of the ever present conflilct between giving assistance 
and acting as a witness in such situations. Each case is treated 
individuall as MSF weighs up the impact of witnessing against the effects 
it might have in the field. 

When acting as a witness in this way, all evidence and public statements 
must be in agreement with the events and situations whichc are being 
denounced, either because they have been experienced at first hand by 
MSF, or because they involve massive violations of which MSF has 
knowledge.

MSF Finances
				1994 		1993
Permanent expatriat posts		 1239		972
Volunteers sent to the field	2950		1957
Total income			$306 m*	$205m
Private donors			2.4m		2.1m

* The 100% increase in budget revenue was due to the Rwanda crisis and 
MSF humanitarian action there. The overall 1996 MSF budget has 
significantly, and alarmingly dropped, owing to downscale operations 
there.

MSF's Income in 1994
Private income:			49.4%	($151m)
European Community 		24.9%	($ 76m)
UNHCR				9.6%	($ 30m)
Other funders			16.1%	($ 49m)

Spending in 1994

MSF Operations accounted for 87% of total spending, Administration costs 
5%, and Communications and Fundraising, 8%.

MSF, founded in 1971 during the Biafra famine catastrophe in Nigeria,  is 
organised as a network made up of six operational centers (sections), 
thirteen delegate offices in Europe, North America, Asia and the 
Brussels-based International Office.  Six operational centers arae based 
in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Geneva, Luxembourg and Paris. During 
emergencies, or cmajor cirises, the operational centers combine forces, 
recruiting and dispatching volunteers as well as coordinating logistical 
support and finances.

Each section is run by a President and a General Director. The Board of 
Directors of each section is composed of volunteers. It outlines the 
section's strategy. 

An International Council is a quarterly meeting of the Presidents and 
General Directors of the six operational centers and the Director of the 
International Office. It outlines the main strategic orientations of the 
MSF movement. 

Members of the International Council are:
Dr. Martleen Boelaert and Dr. Eric Goemaere (MSF Belgium)
Dr. Philippe Biberson and Dr. Bernard Pecoul (MSF France)
Dr. Carlo Faber and Dr. Bechara Ziade (MSF Luxembourg)
Dr. Hans Emas and Dr. Jacques de Millano (MSF Holland)
Dr. Pilar Carrasco and Dr. Paco Sanchez (MSF Spain)
Dr. Doris Schopper and Dr. Benoit Tullen (MSF Switzerland)
Dr. Jean-Marie Kindermans (MSF International Office)

MSF Contact Numbers

Operational Centers

Dr. Hans Emas 
Dr. Jacques de Millano
MSF Holland
Artsen Zonder Grenzen
Max Euweplein 40, PO Box 10014
1001 EA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel 31 20 5208 700
fax 31 20 6205 170/72


Dr. Martleen Boelaert and Dr. Eric Goemaere 
MSF
Artsen Zonder Grenzen
Rue Dupre, 94
1090 Brussels 
Belgium


Dr. Philippe Biberson 
Dr. Bernard Pecoul
MSF France
8, rue Saint-Sabin
75011 Paris
tel  33 1 40 21 2929
fax 33 1 48 06 6868


International Office / UN Liason Office
Catherine Harper
MSF
11 E. 26th Street
Suite 1904
NY, NY 10010
USA
tel   212 679 6800
fax  212 679 7016

Delegate Offices 
Australia, Dr. Peter Hakewill, MSF, 28 Levey Street, Chippendale, Sydney 
NSW 2008, 
tel 61 2 319 3500
fax 61 2 319 2383

Delegate offices also in the following countries:
Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, 
Norway, Sweden, UK, USA


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