The issue of kidnapped MSF volunteer
Arjan Erkel has once again been raised by the European Parliament in a
plenary session on July 3.
Arjan Erkel, 33, is the MSF volunteer
and head of mission for the Dagestan project, who was taken by gunmen in
Dagestan on August 12, 2003. Now almost eleven months later, MSF still
has not received any information regarding his whereabouts although Russian
officials continue to assure MSF that Arjan is alive. Dagestan is a Russian
republic that neighbours Chechnya.
In the plenary session of July 3, the European Parliament called upon "the Russian authorities to step up their efforts to find and free Arjan Erkel, the head of the MSF mission in Dagestan."
In the same resolution, the European Parliament also calls on the Russian Government to facilitate "access to the region for international humanitarian organisations such as ECHO and UNICEF, the personnel of the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the UN, NGOs and, in particular, humanitarian health organisations, providing security and giving permission for the import of necessary technical and security equipment".
On January 16, 2003, the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg passed a first resolution calling upon the "Russian Government to pursue maximum efforts to secure the early release of Mr Erkel, a humanitarian MSF worker, who remains kidnapped in the region".
In the July 3 meeting, Pat Cox, European Parliament President, met the Erkel family and MSF delegation in Strasbourg. During the visit, Dick Erkel and MSF explained the case of Arjan Erkel and the need for the continued support of the European Parliament in keeping it on the international diplomatic agenda. Cox was very receptive to this and promised that he would raise the case with his counterparts in the Russian Federation.
MSF demands from Arjan's abductors that they respect his physical and mental integrity and release him unharmed.