Médecins du Monde
During the Vietnam War, the future founding members of MdM were approached with the idea of aiding Vietnamese refugees fleeing by ship on the South China Sea.However, Kouchner, along with volunteer doctors, journalists, and others organized a hospital boat, L'Île de lumière ("The Island of Light"), to provide medical care and to report the refugees' suffering.It has been reported Kouchner felt that MSF was giving up its founding principle of témoignage ("witnessing"), which refers to aid workers making the atrocities they observe known to the public.Other humanitarian organizations targeted include the United Nations Development Programme, the children's charity UNICEF, and the head of the Economic Community of West African States.In 1998, Doctors of the World UK became a registered charity in England and Wales and initially only contributed to Médecins du Monde international work.[9] The clinic provides information and medical assistance to people who face barriers to access mainstream health services, such as undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and the homeless.