Joanne, perhaps I can turn to you
and perhaps you can give us a flavor
of the role that MSF plays in all of this
as a first responder in the field.
Well, what I wanted to share with you because
I've been organizing to prepare my notes
for that first session, by the way.
Because I think that today,
the refugees crisis for MSF
is one of the biggest failure that we've seen
at the international community.
And it's just something that I think that--
Because Andrew was pushing me to say,
oh, you need to talk about innovation.
And I said, there's nothing innovative about--
I said, we've been quite innovative actually at the EU,
by managing to pass a deal with no dissident voice
28 nation voting for the deal with Turkey and EU
and just say, sending back people to a country
that is already hosting
the most number of refugees, is right.
There's something very innovative about that, I must say.
So...
So, one of the thing that I find really--
I will say, is the fact, is how we've changed a narrative
and how we have tried to somehow tweak things
that to remove some of the rights that those people have
who are fleeing for their life.
And the fact that we change from a narrative
from refugees to migration, is completely different.
If you are a refugees you are basically
fleeing for your life.
You're not going--
Like my father did, went to Canada from China
because he was looking for more opportunity.
Now you fleeing for your life and that's the issue.
Because the reality is when you are a refugees
you have the right to asylum
and you have the right to protection.
But one of the thing that we are advocating for MSF
is one step further, is that
we should have the right to flight
and the right for assistance.
And this is what we are failing today.
And then we find ourself, MSF, being responder of--
And we've been working in refugee camps
for more than 40 years.
We're gonna actually celebrate this year,
I think our 45th anniversary, for some reasons.
This is about my age.
So, but the thing is the fact that we've never seen so much,
I will say, despair.
And then we've never seen so many people telling us
things that I've not heard before, because we often,
it's so easy to talk about Africa,
who's actually right now hosting
more than 85% of the people migrating in the world
of those 60 million and then criticizing them.
Or asking them to do things like,
I don't if you remember well,
Kenya, with the biggest refugee camp, Dadaab.
And they were saying, keep your border open
because those poor Somalians who are starving
need to go there.
It's always easy to point out to other states and do that,
but when comes that they are knocking at your doors,
they own your backyards, you change all of a sudden
the rules of the game.
And so for me is what I find the most awful thing
is the fact that today,
states are not living up to their responsibility as states,
according to the refugee convention.
And then this is what I find is the scandal.
This is the fact that I was in Lesbos over fall.
And I welcome people
and I did our mobile clinic and I did consultation,
medical consultation.
And one of the things that struck me the most
is a woman who came to me.
And I just said, why?
What was the main driver for you to leave Syria?
And she looked at me
as if I was the the biggest naive person on earth.
And she said, because every day, in Syria, we die.
And then after that, she looks at me and she said,
you know what, if I knew,
if I knew I wouldn't even be able to go
to the loo during the daytime
because there was no basic sanitation service.
If I knew that I would live my feet in--
I would live with my feet in the mud
every single day of my life, by coming here,
if I knew I would lose my last patch of decency
I would have rather died in Syria.
And I think for me, it sum up everything
about what's going on and about the fact that we are
in a delusion to a certain extent, because the reality today
and I think that Farick has really explained it well,
is the push factor for people to leave countries
and war today is not changing.
Again, a doctor lost his life again today.
MSF would been under attack, but not only us
but if we look at our statistic over the last year,
in Syria, we are supporting 153 medical facilities.
We have 63 of our facilities
who got either attacked by ariel bomb or by shelling.
12 of them had been completely destroyed.
We have treated more than 154,000 people in our facilities
from war wounded.
And then basically what I'm saying is,
it's normal that people wants to leave war.
It's normal and unless we change that,
the push factor would be the same.
And it's normal that people are attracted by wealth.
And the wealth is very basic, it's peace.
It's not getting a bomb on their head.
It's even getting a job on the black market,
it's still much more appealing than living in Syria
or Yemen or Afghanistan today.
And then, so as long there will be no game changer for that,
then we are gonna see people
basically rolling in, in our backyards.
And then I think that it's a very shortsighted way
of looking at the problem by just blocking,
I will say, the borders.
And the reality today is, because I called my team today
and they say, what do you want me to tell
the people at this school?
They all want innovation,
they all want to hear something great from you guys.
And they just said--
The thing is one of the thing that we've done for MSF,
because we had to adapt ourself,
is the fact that, initially when the border were open,
we end up creating what I call the mobile health.
And then one of the thing was is, was to create--
And we don't like to call it like this anymore,
because people don't like the word
but it would call it the passport health.
So basically what we were trying to do
is if you were leaving and you had diabetes
and you needed some insulin, you will have a passport,
where we're explaining your health issue
and then you would go from one spot to another spot,
to our different mobile clinic, us or the red cross
or any other NGO, and you will have
your health chart with you.
So this is one thing, but today things have changed
because people are stuck and then people are stuck.
And when I was talking to my team this morning,
as I say, so what is going on?
And they said, well, right now,
in Lesbos, is basically people are in detention.
And then we see children coming
unaccompanied by parents in prison, in detention.
And they don't know where to go.
And they actually don't even know
that the trip is ending here
and they're gonna be sent back
with the next boat who's gonna go back
or next flight who's gonna go back to Turkey.
So the thing is, I am--
I wish we have solution.
And Andrew just said, Joanne,
you have to come up with renovation,
these are the young people who's gonna change the world.
And then, they are like the Silicon Valley
of development of entrepreneurship.
And I'm telling you that I'm out of solution.
And I've never been so desperate
about a situation as I am right now.
And I don't know what to say but what I can tell you
is the fact that, if we are to look
and I think that's my plea for you,
it's the fact that if we are to continue
and say that the trigger to do something
will always be fair, like it was for Ebola,
like it is right now, because we are having people
that we have the feeling they are invading our backyards.
I think that we are gonna get it wrong,
we're gonna get the wrong answer.
And I think for me the trigger to do something,
it's about life, it's about safeguarding life.
And then, it means that it's ensured the right to flight
the right to protection, the right to assistance.
Bottom line, the right to dignity.
And for me, all lives count.
And this is the rule that cannot be broken.
Otherwise we are on a dead end.
Thank you.