“Doctors without Borders has been around for fifty years, but it is the first time that we will offer emergency aid in the Netherlands and we are doing this because the Dutch government is so late,” says Sargentini. “The conditions in which the people at Ter Apel find themselves are inhumane.”
The MSF team that visited the application center last Friday “found people outside the gate in living conditions that the organization had previously seen in places like the Greek refugee camp Moria.” The team spoke to people who had not been able to wash for a week, as a result of which many people have already been diagnosed with skin diseases. “Hundreds of people sleep outdoors every day. Among them are pregnant women, children and people with chronic diseases,” the organization said. MSF warns that some chronically ill patients have run out of medication and are now not receiving new drugs. “If this situation continues, it could lead to serious medical emergencies.”
Sargentini says that the decision to provide emergency aid at the application center was taken after close consultation with parties such as the Red Cross and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). “What we do, we do in close contact with the Red Cross. So we are looking at where and how we can complement each other as completely as possible,” explains the MSF director. “The Red Cross mainly works in the field of first aid. We focus on primary care. This includes treating injuries, infections and skin diseases and providing prescriptions for acute and chronic illnesses, as well as providing psychological first aid. People who have experienced trauma also report to Ter Apel.”
Short-term
AzG will be working at the application center with a team of four to six people. This team consists of doctors and nurses and works five days a week. Sargentini emphasizes that a deployment of four to six weeks is initially envisaged. “This is really a short-term solution. It is important that a long-term solution is considered, such as the creation of more humane reception locations. And it is important that implementation bodies such as COA are listened to; after all, they raised this crisis years ago.”