As Medecins Sans Frontieres marks its 50th anniversary, it is calling on European Union leaders to change their approach to migration to prevent further suffering to asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants.
The independent humanitarian organisation, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said governments need to stop "intensifying containment and deterrence policies", because it is causing avoidable harm to the health and well-being of men, women and children trying to escape conflict and crisis in their home countries.
In a series of photographs that recently went on display in Dubai, Mario Stephan, executive director of the MSF UAE regional office, said the exhibition has been launched to highlight the plight of displaced people around the world, ahead of World Refugee Day on Sunday.
"Many of the patients we work with are refugees," he told The National.
“With this photo exhibition it made sense to highlight the reality and plight of our patients and bring attention to global crises that are ongoing but out of the media limelight.
"We are giving a voice to the often voiceless and our mission is to always keep shedding light on situations that might have fallen out of the headlines."
The gallery, called ‘People on the Move’, will be on display at the MSF offices in International Humanitarian City in Dubai until June 24.
It displays more than 20 photos taken in the field from countries including Libya, Greece, Bangladesh and Sudan.
From the Rohingya displacement crisis to conflicts in Mali, the thought-provoking photographs capture the lives of refugees as they live them.
From babies being born in refugee camps to migrants showing evidence of torture inflicted by policing authorities, Mr Stephan said “nobody chooses this life”.
"We need to keep reminding the public that people on the move, those fleeing conflict and crises, are men, women and children who have no choice but to escape their situation," he said.
“One has to understand, what drives them to such extremes? I think this photo gallery highlights their reality in an honest and sobering way.”
Mr Stephan said many migrants are found at sea in packed dinghys that are unsafe for travel.
As well as seasickness, dehydration and scabies, MSF staff commonly treat people with chemical burns, the result of a toxic mix of petrol and seawater.
One rescued person, a teenager, was so badly burnt that staff had to arrange a medical evacuation, he said.
According to its latest 2019 International Activity Report, about 65,000 staff from Doctors Without Borders provided medical and humanitarian assistance to people in more than 70 countries in 2019.
About 80 per cent of the staff were hired in the countries where help was needed, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Yemen.
