MSF said recurrent attacks on medical facilities and the level of extreme violence are reasons for the withdrawal
The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Monday that it has decided to withdraw all its services from Somaliland’s Las Anod General Hospital in the Sool region due to increased volatility and repeated security incidents that have impacted the safe delivery of medical care.
It said repeated attacks on medical facilities and the level of extreme violence have reached a point where it is no longer able to provide medical care.
“The protection and safety of patients, their caretakers, and health workers are no longer guaranteed”, MSF said in a statement.
Las Anod General Hospital was hit during fighting between forces of Somaliland and local clan-based militias in the latest incident this month, causing injuries among medical staff and caretakers and also damaging an ambulance, and forcing the closure of the hospital’s maternity ward, according to MSF.
It was the fifth incident since the escalation of violence on Feb. 6 this year.
“We regret we are forced to stop our medical support, knowing that this will have an impact on people’s access to vital medical care – which has already been compromised by the ongoing conflict,” said Dana Krause, MSF country representative. “But we need to be able to work in an environment where the minimum standards of safety are ensured for patients and healthcare workers.”
MSF has been working at Las Anod General Hospital since May 2019, supplying the hospital with medical and technical expertise.
Fadumo Ali Hassan, a Las Anod resident, told Anadolu by phone Monday that MSF was providing live-saving medical assistance and its withdrawal is “leaving a lot of families affected by the violence and constant fighting in the town helpless.”
Reacting to the MSF statement on Twitter, a member of Somalia’s federal parliament, Mursal Khalif, said the move is “contrary to @MSF’s medical ethics, as well as principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.”
Las Anod has witnessed fierce fighting between Somaliland forces and clan militias that has killed hundreds, wounded thousands, and displaced many families from their homes.
Fighting started in Las Anod, the administrative capital of Somaliland’s eastern Sool region, after local leaders, civil society groups and religious leaders announced that they would no longer recognize the Somaliland government.
The Somaliland administration has labeled the local forces “terrorists” and blamed them for the violence.
Read below the MSF’s press release
Extreme violence in Las Anod forces MSF to close activities
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reached the difficult decision to withdraw our services from Las Anod General Hospital, Sool region, due to increased volatility and repeated security incidents which have impacted the safe delivery of medical care.
Recurrent attacks on medical facilities and the level of extreme violence in Las Anod have reached the threshold where MSF is no longer able to provide medical care. The protection and safety of patients, their caretakers, and health workers is no longer guaranteed.
In the latest incident on 8 July, Las Anod General Hospital was hit during the fighting, causing injuries among medical staff and caretakers. The fighting also damaged an ambulance and forced the closure of the hospital’s maternity ward. It was the fifth incident since the escalation of violence on 6 February this year. Previous bouts of violence in Las Anod have also claimed the lives of health workers and volunteers supporting the medical response to the war-wounded.
We regret we are forced to stop our medical support… but we need to be able to work in an environment where the minimum standards of safety are ensured for patients and healthcare workers.
DANA KRAUSE, MSF COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE
“We regret we are forced to stop our medical support, knowing that this will have an impact on people’s access to vital medical care – which has already been compromised by the ongoing conflict,” says Dana Krause, MSF country representative. “But we need to be able to work in an environment where the minimum standards of safety are ensured for patients and healthcare workers.”
Since May 2019, MSF has been supporting Las Anod General Hospital with medical supplies and technical expertise for its emergency room and operating theatre, as well as financial support for staff providing sexual and reproductive healthcare services, and diagnosis and treatment of children for acute malnutrition and other diseases. In 2022 alone, medical teams carried out more than 7,200 emergency consultations and assisted over 2,000 births. This week, unfortunately, our teams are making the last donation of medical items, including kits to treat war-wounded patients.
While our support to medical services in Las Anod comes to an end, we will remain present in the Sool region by maintaining basic and specialized healthcare activities in Kalabaydh, nearly 40 kilometers south of Las Anod. This is where people who had been displaced by the current conflict have been seeking healthcare.
Over the past four decades, MSF has responded to recurring humanitarian health and malnutrition emergencies in Somali communities. We reiterate our commitment to continue doing so while observing neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance. MSF claims full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of our functions.
