Mariupol, a strategically important port in southern Ukraine that has been constantly bombed by the Russians, is in a “desperate” state, according to a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) official who called for everything possible to be avoided. “unthinkable tragedy”.
The situation is “almost desperate”, said Steven Cornis, head of MSF in Switzerland and one of the coordinators of the organization’s actions in Ukraine, after the Russian invasion on February 24. “Hundreds of thousands of people (D.) are literally besieged,” he added in an interview with AFP.
“Sieges are a medieval practice, forbidden by the modern rules of war, and rightly so,” Cornis added, highlighting the plight of civilians.
In Mariupol there is no heating, no drinking water, there are food shortages. The bombing continues unabated. Local military officials estimate that 1,207 people have been killed in the city but, as with most reports, the actual number of victims is believed to be higher as many bodies remain under the rubble.
Protect civilians
Steven Cornis recalled that international law provides for the protection of civilians and the coverage of their basic needs: food, water, medicine and “of course, not to involve them in the conflict”.
“As we can see, not only in Mariupol but also, according to reliable information coming from Kharkiv, Dnipro and other areas, the necessary efforts are not being made to save the civilians,” he said. “We are really leading to an unthinkable tragedy,” he warned, but expressed confidence that “it is still possible to avoid and it must be avoided.”
Médecins Sans Frontières has more than 100 volunteers in Ukraine. The organization managed to operate a mobile clinic in the city of Vinnytsia today, in western Ukraine, to care for the countless displaced people in need of care. But the main challenge is mainly those people who remain in the war zones.
“There are dozens of areas where civilians are in urgent need of medical treatment and we just are not yet able to provide them,” he said.
For Cornis, as for the rest of the world, the bombing of Mariupol Children’s Hospital was “a real shock to our conscience, to our humanity.” “It is really unacceptable, there are no words to understand how such a thing can be allowed in our time,” he continued.
Médecins Sans Frontières had no staff at this hospital, but some of their associates and their families have been excluded from Mariupol. Some even manage to communicate with the outside world. “We look forward to these communications and are relieved to hear that they are well received,” Cornis said.
However, due to the clashes, the team can not transport aid to the hospitals and “this is unacceptable,” he stressed. “We must do everything we can to ensure that we restore dignity and humanity,” he said.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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