Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural disasters. MSF combines the provision of emergency medical care with a commitment to speaking out about the suffering people endure and the obstacles encountered in providing assistance. MSF offers assistance to people based only on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

MSF has a long history working with refugees and internally displaced worldwide. Since the late 1990s, MSF has intervened in host countries to address vulnerabilities caused by increasingly restrictive immigration policies, mainly in Europe (Spain, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Greece) and more recently also in other regions of the world in host and transit countries (Morocco, South Africa, Yemen, Malaysia, Thailand, Libya and Egypt) .

As a medical humanitarian organization MSF responds to human beings in need of assistance, and focuses therefore on the most vulnerable migrants irrespective of their legal status. MSF provides medical and humanitarian assistance to new arrivals, facilitates access to health care and addresses the psychosocial consequences resulting from uprooting, the hazards of their journey and the distress caused by the harsh conditions in the receiving country. At the same time, MSF lobbies the authorities to ensure the provision of basic healthcare to all migrants and to address the inhumane living conditions faced by many, often within immigration detention facilities.