MSF lashes out at EU over migrant crisis, rejects funding

The humanitarian organisation said the EU-Turkey deal is aimed at keeping thousands of refugees from Syria and Iraq away from European countries.

International humanitarian organisation MÃ©decins Sans FrontiÃ¨res (MSF) today said that it would no longer take funds from the European Union (EU) and its member states in protest against the recent EU-Turkey migrant deal. MSF said that the deal has rendered thousands of refugees from warn-torn countries such as Syria and Iran homeless, and therefore the organisation would not seek funding from the EU or its member-countries that are pushing people out of their boundaries.

The main purpose of the EU-Turkey deal, according to the BBC, is to keep migrants -- mainly Syrians and Iraqis -- from crossing over to Europe through the sea link between Greece and Turkey.

The United Nations and many other rights organisations have expressed concerns over the deal.

"On the Greek Islands, more than 8,000 people, including hundreds of unaccompanied minors, have been stranded as a direct consequence of the EU-Turkey deal. They have been living in dire conditions, in overcrowded camps, sometimes for months. They fear a forced return to Turkey yet are deprived of essential legal aid, their one defence against collective expulsion. The majority of these families, whom Europe has legislated out of sight, have fled conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, " MSF said in an official statement.

Lashing out at the EU, Jerome Oberreit, international secretary general of MSF, said that MSF has spoken out about a "shameful European response" focused on deterrence rather than providing people with the assistance and protection they need.

In 2015, MSF received $63m funding from the EU, the BBC reported.

The charity alleged that the EU is trying to replicate the Turkey deal across 16 other countries in the world, mainly in Africa and the Middle East where it is imposing trade and development aid cuts so that migrants return to their native countries and are kept away from the European countries.

"Last month, the Kenyan Government cited European migration policy to justify their decision to close the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, sending its residents back to Somalia. Likewise, the deal does nothing to encourage countries surrounding Syria, already hosting millions of refugees, to open their borders to those in need," MSF added.