[Medical evacuations from conflict areas; practice and politics]

The debate over whether to admit critically ill and wounded people from Gaza, as occurred in The Netherlands, raises broader questions of how medical evacuations are established. This article examines the origins, political and practical realities associated with medical evacuations ('medevacs') from conflict areas. Medevacs constitute a form of humanitarian assistance and part of the obligation to protect civilians during armed conflict, as set out in the Geneva Conventions. A brief overview of involved actors and organizations is provided, after which it discusses the challenges encountered during the preparatory and operational phases. Experiences from the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine and Gaza demonstrate that, despite the protection of healthcare under both international humanitarian and customary law, medevacs are often systematically targeted and obstructed. Finally, several objections against or risks coming with this practice are discussed, as is the political relevance of universal access to and protection of healthcare worldwide.