Article

Humanitarian assistance in siege contexts: a contradiction in terms?

Duncan McLean, Maelle L'Homme

This contribution attempts to explore the contradiction between a strategy of exhaustion aiming to establish the conditions for the besieged party to surrender, and the legal and moral imperative of ...

Article

Benefiting some more than others: humanitarian disruption in conflict settings

Maelle L'Homme

In March 2022, intercommunal fighting forced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to suspend its activities after nearly fourteen years of operating in Agok, a small town located in the disputed Abyei...

Article

Are we using the right terms to describe the situation in Gaza?

Françoise Duroch

On 6 November, António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, called for an immediate halt to the bombings in the Gaza Strip, highlighting a nightmarish situation for civilian...

Article

Pratiques délictueuses aux portes de l’Europe

Françoise Duroch, Maelle L'Homme

Reports of violence at Greece's borders have multiplied in recent years. A report published in November 2023 by MSF documents the harsh realities experienced by migrants on arrival in Greece, based...

Article

"In Niger, the population has been taken hostage"

Françoise Duroch

Since 30 July, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has imposed a series of sanctions against Niger: commercial and financial transactions have been suspended, the country’s air...

Article

«Asyl zu verkaufen» – völkerrechtlicher Schutz in Zeiten von Outsourcing

Maelle L'Homme

After the USA and Australia, several European countries are also developing strategies aimed at reducing their reception obligations towards asylum seekers. Maelle L'Homme reflects on the danger of...

Article

International Humanitarian Law, State sovereignty and the erosion of the humanitarian consensus: the end of humanitarianism?

Duncan McLean

This article examines the dilution of the legal framework on which humanitarian action has historically been based, primarily through the prism of international humanitarian law and related...

Article

"Wichtig ist, Frauen in den Teams zu haben"

Françoise Duroch

How far do aid organisations go to be able to deliver assistance in authoritarian states? A conversation with Françoise Duroch about difficult compromises, working with the Taliban and whether the...

Article

Total, entre caution morale et greenwashing

Françoise Duroch

Early February, TotalEnergies announced that it had appointed Jean-Christophe Rufin to launch an assessment of the humanitarian situation in northern Mozambique. The mandate of this former...

Article

Les ONG et l'autre moitié du monde

Françoise Duroch

At the end of December, the humanitarian sector was informed that women in Afghanistan were banned from working for non-governmental organisations on the grounds that some had been seen working...

Article

Ethical considerations around the use of humanitarian imagery

Françoise Duroch, Maelle L'Homme

The growth of social media has reduced the world to a “global village” in which images travel fast and far. When they feature vulnerable people, the impact can be disastrous. Starting from a...

Article

Out of sight, out of mind: Europe's increasing pushback against migrants

Duncan McLean