Salvadoran Refugee Camps In Honduras 1988

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Médecins Sans Frontières, Dec 10, 2013 - 37 pages
 

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16 December 1988 in French 1988 in Spanish 31 December accusations agency assisting Salvadoran refugees August backing the guerilla Bernard Pécoul border camp population camps in Honduras Central America Programmes Colomoncagua and San Colomoncagua camp Commissioner for Refugees community in Colomoncagua Contadora Group Coordinator in Honduras Coordinator in Mesa D3 Extract decision Director of Central drugs Esquipulas accords expel MSF FMLN Frontières gives gives up assisting Grange guerilla grip guerrillas Honduran army Honduras coordinator humanitarian organisations hunger strike July Laurence Binet Magdi Ibrahim Médecins Sans Frontières Mesa Grande camp Mesa Grande refugees Mission Report Monde France MSF coordinator MSF France Coordinator MSF France President MSF team MSF volunteers MSF’s nisation Médecins patients Pol Pot political President and Director press release Programme Manager refugee committees refugees in Honduras repatriation Rony Brauman Salvador Salvadoran army Salvadoran government Salvadoran refugee camps Salvadoran refugee community San Antonio camp situation Tegucigalpa UNHCR Virtud

About the author (2013)

 The "Salvadoran Refugee Camps in Honduras 1988" case study describes the dilemmas regarding a stance that … was not supposed to be public.

In 1988, after 8 years in the Salvadoran refugee camps in Honduras, MSF decided to withdraw. It refused to meet the excessive, and even dangerous, demands of the refugee committees which were extensions of the Salvadoran guerrilla that exerted a tight and violent control over the refugee camps.
MSF, however, refused to reveal the real reasons for its departure so as to avoid a crackdown of the Honduran army on the refugees.
During internal debates that preceded its withdrawal, dilemmas and questions arose: In order to continue assisting the refugee population is it acceptable that this aid strengthens the guerrilla’s totalitarian hold over the refugees? Having decided to withdraw in the name of certain principles, is it acceptable to publicly expose these principles, thereby potentially endangering the refugees by revealing the presence of the guerrilla forces in the camps? On the other hand, would remaining silent about the reasons for withdrawal not negate the sense and impact of such a decision?

Bibliographic information

TitleSalvadoran Refugee Camps In Honduras 1988
MSF Speaking Out
AuthorLaurence Binet
PublisherMédecins Sans Frontières, 2013
Length37 pages
  
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