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Monday, March 7, 2016

Doctor on the frontline: 'The camps in Europe are the most appalling I've seen'

Doctor Xand van Tulleken travelled with his twin brother along the migrant trail from Greece to France for a new documentary. The suffering he witnessed brought him to tears In January, I worked in a clinic for migrants in France. Bear in mind that I have volunteered as a doctor in Darfur, among the ongoing genocide, in both 2005 and 2010; in Myanmar after the cyclone in 2008; and with crisis-affected people in Uganda and Congo. I didn’t think I was naive about humanitarian crises – but Europe presents by far the most appalling set of circumstances I have seen. I spent two weeks trekking the migrant trail from Greece to France for a BBC documentary about the migration crisis with my twin brother, Chris, who’s a doctor too. We wanted to learn more about the health issues afflicting migrants. The crisis is ludicrously complex; the vast number of countries, religions and languages involved put it beyond the comprehension of any single person. But some things become breathtakingly clear once you meet individuals who have made the journey to Europe. Continue reading...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com