Doctors Without Borders halts Russian operations after losing legal status
Al Jazeera
The aid group announced the decision with ‘a heavy heart’ after losing its legal authorisation.
Doctors Without Borders has said it has halted its operations in Russia after Moscow removed its authorisation to work in the country.
The NGO, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), announced the decision late on Monday, saying it was compelled to stop activities because Russia’s justice ministry had removed it from a roster of approved foreign charities.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have to close our activities in Russia,” said a statement by MSF, which employed more than 50 people in Russia.
“To comply with the [justice ministry] decision, we had to close our operations in the country and terminate the contracts of our staff in accordance with all legal requirements,” spokeswoman Maria Borscheva told the AFP news agency.
The decision applied to the Dutch branch of MSF in Russia but since this was the only association active in the country, it effectively ended the group’s presence there.
