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East Africa: Under-Secretary-General Briefs Security Council on Humanitarian Situations in Eastern Ethiopia, Darfur, Somalia
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United Nations (New York)
DOCUMENT
7 December 2007
Posted to the web 7 December 2007
John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Security Council today following his recent visit to assess the humanitarian situation in eastern Ethiopia, the Darfur region of the Sudan and Somalia.
Mr. Holmes said some 13,300 relief workers were currently assisting 4.2 million people affected by the conflict in Darfur, including almost 2.4 million displaced persons. The situation was gradually deteriorating, and humanitarian operations remained fragile. Concerns included restrictions on access, violence affecting civilians and aid workers, and respect for humanitarian principles by all parties to the conflict.
He said clashes between signatories and non-signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement, as well as aerial bombardments, inter-tribal clashes, banditry and general lawlessness, continued to have a major impact. Attacks on humanitarian personnel continued at unprecedented levels. Since the start of the year, 128 humanitarian vehicles had been hijacked, 118 staff taken hostage, more than 50 humanitarian personnel physically or sexually assaulted, 74 convoys looted and 12 relief workers killed. The return or relocation of internally displaced persons was clearly a very sensitive issue, but return or resettlement must be voluntary. Another key concern was the presence of arms in some of the camps for internally displaced persons.
Noting that the need for humanitarian assistance in Darfur continued to grow, he said the Government of the Sudan and all the armed groups concerned had a particular responsibility to avoid any unravelling of the humanitarian operation. The main requirement was an inclusive peace agreement, reinforced by a peacekeeping force capable of monitoring the peace and ensuring the protection of civilians.
Turning to his brief visit to Somalia, he cited United Nations estimates that said Mogadishu had been emptied of more than half of its citizens, some 600,000 people altogether. Some 230,000 of them were now living along a 15-kilometre stretch of road between Mogadishu, the capital, and Afgooye, probably the single largest gathering of internally displaced persons in the world. There was reason for even greater concern about those remaining in Mogadishu.
He said there were some 1.5 million people in need altogether and the donor community must increase their presence and resources. However, a robust humanitarian response could not make up for the absence of desperately needed political and security progress. The international community had the responsibility not to abandon the Somali people but to help all concerned to find a way out of the trap in which they found themselves. The lack of high-level attention was not an option for Somalia.
On the situation in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia, he said the area had long been affected by the conflict between Government forces and the Ogaden National Liberation Front. Military operations and Government concern about the smuggling of weapons from Somalia had severely limited the movement of commercial traffic across the Ethiopia-Somalia border and insecurity had a direct effect on the delivery of food aid. Some 950,000 people currently required 53,000 tons of food for the next three months, and a poor rainy season had added to fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
He said that, although the Government viewed claims of major humanitarian problems as exaggerated, it would respond as if predictions of the worst-case scenario were justified. There were also worrying reports about the human rights situation. The international community and Council members should monitor the situation and encourage political progress in light of the potential implications for peace and security in an increasingly explosive region.
Following the briefing, speakers stressed that, in order to improve the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, all parties must cease hostilities and allow the delivery of aid. Expressing concern about the increasing attacks on humanitarian workers, some speakers noted that they seemed to be carried out by rebel factions. Other speakers welcomed the commitment by the Government of the Sudan to extend the moratorium on humanitarian restrictions and the Joint Communiqué on the Facilitation of Humanitarian Assistance, and urged the Sudanese authorities to cooperate with the United Nations in the deployment of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). They must cooperate fully with the Organization and the international community in order for progress to be made towards peace.
As for the situation in Somalia, some speakers urged the Council to revisit the request of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for an expedited assessment of the necessity for a peacekeeping operation in Somalia. Others called for the full deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia, as well as for support for that mission. Expressing concern at the deterioration of the humanitarian situation and violations of human rights, speakers stressed that Somalia’s Transitional Federal Institutions and all parties must allow access and transportation of assistance. The situation on the ground endangered the possibility of reaching a solution to the crisis, and the Council must examine how to deal with it.
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