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I’ll help you out in case you suck at French. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) translates to Doctors Without Borders. It’s an international humanitarian organization known for working in parts of the world that aren’t terribly safe, either due to war or endemic disease. Sounds awesome, but its reputation isn’t as pristine as you might imagine.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: December 22, 1971--
From 1967 to 1970 the Nigerian Civil War raged. Roughly 100,000 died from military action, but two million perished from purposeful starvation. The U.S., UK, and Soviet Union sided with the Nigerian government, whereas France supported the separatist Biafrans, who did the majority of the dying in the conflict. Numerous French doctors volunteered to help the Biafrans, and witnessed terrible atrocities committed by the Nigerian government. In the aftermath, doctors and medical journalists were determined to form an organization that would provide medical care regardless of national borders, race, religion, or political affiliation. Continues below …
I have a story about the Nigerian Civil War in my book On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down. You thought I was gonna pitch for paying subscribers, didn’t you? Okay. I’ll do that too. Click the green button.
The organization formed in Paris on December 22, 1971. The first mission was to Nicaragua in 1972 where a massive earthquake destroyed much of the capital city of Managua, killing tens of thousands. Before long, however, the organization would discover just how difficult it was to maintain its neutrality.
The totalitarian and genocidal communist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that time, many fled to Thailand, where MSF set up refugee camps. In 1977 one of the organization’s doctors violated policy by publicly criticizing the Khmer Rouge for exterminating its people. It’s a Catch-22: Shut your mouth so you can help the victims or go on a tirade and lose access to those who need you. MSF acknowledges it has negotiated with criminals in order to save lives.
The volunteers are often at risk of not just disease, but bullets, mines, bombs, and even kidnapping for political purposes if they’re seen as “aiding the enemy.” The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, but there have also been criticisms. In 2012 MSF paid $10,000 to an Al Qaeda-affiliated militia to allow them to remain in Somalia to continue to provide aid there. That one seems questionable, but this doesn’t: In 2020 a thousand former and current aid workers with MSF signed a letter that made a damning accusation: the organization is racist as fuck.
The letter said MSF is built on a mindset of white supremacy, and that racism permeates its policies, hiring practices, culture, and programs, and that the organization is ruled by a privileged, white minority. Non-white staff members complained of being frequently talked down to, ignored, or having their work unfairly scrutinized. Many would not speak out for fear of losing their jobs with the organization that now employs approximately 65,000 people, 90% of whom are local to the area in which they work. There are also accusations of non-white workers getting less security and less pay. Some say the model of the organization is flawed, being based on a white savior colonial ethos. MSF says it’s trying to rectify the problem of institutional racism. Time will tell if they succeed.
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