Allegations of complicity with any actor in a conflict put MSF patients and staff at serious and immediate risk.
On the night of Saturday 25 to Sunday 26 December, the emergency call centre of the humanitarian medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) received a call concerning an injured person in need of urgent medical assistance in the Tinto health zone.
One of our ambulances managed to take care of the patient in the morning in the Ashum area. Due to his serious condition, he had to be transferred to Mutengene via Kumba for surgery.
Hindering and obstructing our work puts patients' lives at risk
As agreed and regularly implemented, MSF had previously contacted the local military authorities. Our teams had informed them of the transfer of an injured patient to Mutengene. However, once at the Nguti checkpoint, the ambulance was stopped by Cameroonian security forces and forced to return to Mamfe, where the patient had to be treated and stabilized.
Since then, we have been in contact with the authorities to understand theorigin of the communication problems relating to this patient transfer, in order to avoid new incidents of this type with our ambulances.
With regard to this incident and the allegations published in some media, MSF must recall that:
- In Cameroon, as elsewhere in the world, MSF treats people on the basis of medical needs alone, regardless of their origins or affiliations. This impartial and neutral medico-humanitarian action is protected in particular by the Geneva Conventions, which specify that persons who do not take a direct part in hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those who are put out of action by illness, injury, detention or any other cause, shall, in all circumstances, treated humanely, without any discrimination based on race, colour, religion or belief, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
- Obstructing and obstructing our work puts patients' lives at risk.
- Allegations of complicity with any actor in a conflict put MSF patients and staff at serious and immediate risk.
- We therefore call on everyone to show responsibility in their statements and publications relating to our humanitarian action in the country. The dissemination of information that undermines our reputation as a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization endangers the lives of our teams and patients in an already very sensitive context.
