Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Stops Taking Funding From EU In Protest Against Refugee Policies

Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, announced Friday that it would no longer accept funding from the European Union and its member states. During a press conference, MSF’s Secretary General Jérôme Oberreit said the decision was made in response to Europe’s “dangerous migration policies.”

The press conference was a severe indictment of Europe’s approach to how it handles the inflow of refugees, which has increased significantly in the last few months, as millions affected by violence flee Iraq, Libya and Syria, among other places in the Middle East and Africa. The international medical humanitarian organization singled out the EU-Turkey refugee deal for criticism, a move it has opposed since it was first announced.

“This is really about Europe’s refugee shame,” Oberreit said, adding: “The main focus of the response [to refugees] in Europe has been to stop people from coming.”

MSF called for a “dramatic shift” in policy from pushing back refugees to a focus on protecting and assisting them. It also said there was “nothing remotely humanitarian” about the EU-Turkey deal.

The organization will use its emergency funds to keep its projects running.