What type of work was the French section of MSF doing in Myanmar?
Since 2001, we have run a medical program to treat malaria in the states of Mon and Karen, a region affected by an armed conflict between the Burmese army and rebel groups. We chose to work in the conflict area because, from a humanitarian perspective, the people living there are particularly vulnerable. They are exposed to violence and are deprived of health care. Malaria is one of the primary causes of death in this region. Why did we decide to end our programs in the country? We had to face up to the facts: the Myanmar authorities do not want independent, foreign organizations to be close to the populations they want to control. The authorities don’t want anyone to witness how they organize the forced displacement of the population, the burning of villages, and forced recruitment. In 2001, we thought the regime was easing up and, indeed, until 2004, we did have access to those regions and could work under acceptable conditions. But in 2004, the regime’s hardliners regained control,
