Zimbabwean refugees denied access to medical care

The child was turned away from the hospital because she and the mother did not have legal documentation. It is unacceptable and inhumane to refuse treatment for a six-year old child who needs essential medical care after she has been raped. Not having legal documents cannot be a reason to deny access to health care.”

– Bianca Tolboom, Nurse and Project Coordinator, MSF in Johannesburg

“One woman was very ill. She had malaria and was HIV-positive. She was in bad condition, her temperature was very high. And we referred her to hospital, but then she came back the following day. We saw that she still wasn’t well, so we wanted to return her to the hospital, but she said she did not want to go there. We asked her why and she said the nurses told her, ‘You are dirty, you are smelly. You go back to Zimbabwe with your dirtiness.’

“Each day, MSF teams witness the failure of the South African government primarily, but also of UN agencies, to meet the basic medical and humanitarian needs of vulnerable Zimbabweans,” said Rachel Cohen.