How can aid workers help war victims without falling prey to, or becoming complicit with, their persecutors?
Humanitarian organisations have an ambiguous relationship with the violence of war. Seeking to relieve its severity, they contribute to its continuation to varying degrees while subjecting themselves to becoming targets. This collection of studies explores the way aid workers attempt to “humanise” war and face the risk of becoming victims of or complicit in the war.
![As a result of heavy fighting between RPF Tutsi rebels and the gouvernment army of Rwanda, a million hutu refugees fled to Zaire within a few days.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2021-05/MSF34480%28High%29.jpg?itok=o_YW5-Fq)
Rwandan Refugee Camps in Zaire and Tanzania 1994-1995
04/03/2014This case study is describing the constraints and dilemmas met by MSF when confronted with camps under the tight control of "refugee leaders" responsible for the genocide of the Rwandan Tutsis from April to June 1994.
![During the violent period of clan warfare in Somalia, which followed the ousting of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, the health care system along with all state services, collapsed.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2021-05/MSF47591%28High%29.jpg?itok=YNvKMY4N)
Somalia 1991-1993: Civil War, Famine Alert and a UN “Military-Humanitarian” Intervention
11/13/2013The ‘Somalia 1991-1993: Civil War, Famine Alert and a UN "Military-Humanitarian" Intervention‘ case study is describing the difficulties and dilemmas met by MSF during the first years that it was committed to helping the Somali people.
![During the violent period of clan warfare in Somalia, which followed the ousting of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, the health care system along with all state services, collapsed.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2021-05/MSF47591%28High%29.jpg?itok=YNvKMY4N)
Somalia 1991-1993: Civil War, Famine Alert and a UN “Military-Humanitarian” Intervention
11/13/2013The ‘Somalia 1991-1993: Civil War, Famine Alert and a UN "Military-Humanitarian" Intervention‘ case study is describing the difficulties and dilemmas met by MSF during the first years that it was committed to helping the Somali people.
![Le CICR doit oser briser l’embargo humanitaire en Syrie L'afflux des Syriens au camps de Domeez](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2017-05/MSF132586-influx-of-syrians-into-domeez-camp_0.jpg?itok=wdQ59Nq1)
Syria: Breaking the De Facto Humanitarian Embargo against Rebel-Held Areas
03/19/2013While European Union members are debating the lifting of arms embargo on Syria, populations living in opposition held territories continue to be severed from desperately needed humanitarian aid. Yet, there is a controversy among aid agencies on the best ways to scale up relief activities in Syria.
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Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: the MSF experience
02/17/2012From international NGOs to UN agencies, from donors to observers of humanitarianism, opinion is unanimous: in a context of the alleged ‘clash of civilisations’, our ‘humanitarian space’ is shrinking.
![Famine en Somalie : l’alerte à l’alerte Des enfants mangent de la pâte nutritive](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2017-05/MSF105975-msf-staff-dstributing-nutritious-paste.jpg?itok=Gy5uBXR-)
Famine in Somalia : warning against the warning!
09/19/2011In the context of emergency appeals in the Horn of Africa, Rony Brauman recalls the contemporary definition of a famine. While recognising the progress made in major crisis response mechanisms, he questions the alarmist attitude of the UN.
![Crimes de guerre et politiques de terreur en Tchétchénie (1994-2004) Un nouveau traitement pour les patients atteints de tuberculose à Grozny, en Tchétchénie](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2021-05/MSF7126%28High%29.jpg?itok=RO19LV0X)
War crimes and politics of terror in Chechnya (1994-2004)
07/15/2010The ‘War crimes and politics of terror in Chechnya 1994-2004’ case study describes the constraints, questions and dilemmas experienced by MSF while speaking out during the two Russian-Chechen wars and the following years of ‘normalization’.
![Crimes de guerre et politiques de terreur en Tchétchénie (1994-2004) Un nouveau traitement pour les patients atteints de tuberculose à Grozny, en Tchétchénie](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2021-05/MSF7126%28High%29.jpg?itok=RO19LV0X)
War crimes and politics of terror in Chechnya (1994-2004)
07/15/2010The ‘War crimes and politics of terror in Chechnya 1994-2004’ case study describes the constraints, questions and dilemmas experienced by MSF while speaking out during the two Russian-Chechen wars and the following years of ‘normalization’.
![Médecins Sans Frontières et les sorties de guerre Médecins Sans Frontières et les sorties de guerre](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2017-05/MSB10391_0.jpg?itok=jPYpNJuR)
Médecins Sans Frontières and the aftermath of war
01/10/2010This study started out looking at the shift to a post-conflict situation in Katanga; the intention was to describe how MSF’s sections negotiated the transition from war to post-war.