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Aid Workers Quit Somalia
Friday, 10 Apr 2009 SMC
Written by Abdinasir Mohamed Guled
Published Thursday, April 09, 2009
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| AMG/TML (Photos) |
[Mogadishu, Somalia] A country that has been plagued by civil wars for more than 18 years, Somalia is still torn apart by unabated violence. Many foreign aid workers, who boldly decided to come to Somalia to help the war-ravaged nation's starving people, have decided to leave one of the most dangerous places in the world after more threats and killings of their colleagues.
An escalation of attacks on aid workers and human rights staffers in southern and central Somalia is putting at least 3 million Somalis at even greater risk of malnutrition and disease. Many organizations have suspended programs and withdrawn staff in a country that is in the middle of maybe the worst humanitarian crisis in its checkered history.
Unidentified armed groups commonly kill, kidnap and threaten aid workers with death. This phenomenon has increased so much that there are fears food distribution will come to an end in Somalia, which has suffered during a two-year rebellion by Islamist rebels that has left more than 16,000 civilians dead and uprooted up to a million.
Most foreign aid workers are staying away from Somalia, delegating their work to local employees, who in turn have become the victims of repeated violence and killings.
The local aid workers now appear to have had enough of working under these conditions.
Duniya Sheik Daud, an aid worker for Iida, a group that campaigns for women's rights and against female genital mutilation, was gunned down by unknown assailants in October 2008 near the town Gurilel.
In January this year, unidentified gunmen shot and killed the World Food Program’s local aid worker Mohamud Omar Moallim, 49, while he distributed food to displaced people at Daynile, 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Mogadishu.
“After I received death threats and was informed that I’m a target for a group, I decided to stay in my home for security reasons,” a Somali female aid worker, who worked in the country for many years, told The Media Line during an interview at her house.
She was the family breadwinner until she quit her job four months ago.
Another aid worker, who calls himself Abdi and asks for his full name not to be published, says some hope to resume work, as some aid agencies have started to negotiate the security of their workers with the Islamists controlling large swathes of land. This, he says, might give them some reliable protection.
“This is better than the unreliable security we had earlier, so we can now have a way to do some work,” he says.
Various Islamist rebel factions control most of southern and central Somalia, while feuding militias hold sway elsewhere; hundreds of African Union (AU) peacekeepers are based in the capital, Mogadishu.
Thousands of Somalis are dependent on the food aid provided by the agencies, but that has been reduced by the waves of attacks against the workers.
Analysts say that if these violent acts continue, this may lead to more famine and plagues in the Horn of Africa nation.
“The aid workers have no protected areas to work in,” says Somali analyst Ahmed Du’ale. “They can’t help because they will be killed or abducted.”
As the violence continued unabated, the armed A-Shabab organization offered different conditions for aid agencies to operate in areas under its control.
“We are ordering the humanitarian aid agencies to register to work in Bay and Bakol regions to guarantee their security,” A-Shabab official Sheikh Abdullahi Abu Ayman said recently.
However, the group’s spokesman, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, suggested aid agencies could work freely in the region.
“They are helping the deprived and thirsty people in the region; I don’t think it’s right to force them to register,” Robow said at a news conference in Baidoa, the former seat of the Somali parliament. “We appreciate how they have assisted the people in the past and hope they will continue doing the same,” he added.
The aid agencies and workers find it difficult to know what to do. Not only does A-Shabab offer mixed messages, but the government also offers its own directives.
“We are informing all aid agencies to register with the government and the government will be responsible for their security,” Abdiqadir Mohamed Walayo, spokesman for the Somali premier, told reporters in Mogadishu.
It will not be easy to adhere to orders from the government and opposition while operating throughout the country.
“Since we want protection, we have to accept all the orders,” a Somali aid worker who asked to remain anonymous said by phone somewhere in Mogadishu. “Large parts of the country are no-go areas and it is now impossible to have a clear picture of the humanitarian situation on the ground,” he adds.
Somali government official Abdullahi Qadar says the country’s security is the most important thing in order to protect aid workers.
The Somali government needs its forces trained to establish security so that civilians and aid workers can perform their daily duties without restraint, says Mohamed Muse, a Somali analyst based in neighboring Kenya, where most foreign aid agencies are now located in the capital, Nairobi.
Situation on the Ground
Several Somali regions have been hit by severe droughts but have no aid contributions to cope with their desperate situation.
“We need food and water, but all we get is some insufficient stuff from our brothers in the region,” says Fatima Ali, a mother of five who lives on the northern outskirts of Kismayo town, which faces the effects of a severe drought.
More than three million people in Somalia – almost half the population – are in acute need of food or medical aid, according to the United Nations.
Violence against aid workers has reduced since Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected the country’s president earlier this year as he vowed reconciliation with his opponents when he was elected. However, he has not taken any concrete steps to prevent the attacks.
Ahmednor, a local aid worker, says the Somali government’s pledge to improve the security of aid workers is the only option that gives some form of reliable protection to the humanitarian agencies, but the government only controls small parts of the country.
He urges all the armed groups in Somalia to respect the aid agencies and their staff since they are independent organizations.
The year 2008 was one of the worst for the aid agencies in Somalia in terms of killings and abductions; most of the country’s streets were closed by Ethiopian troops, and food aid trucks were forced to undergo rigorous security checks.
The aid workers The Media Line spoke with have become more optimistic in recent weeks, following the formation of the new government. However, they realize the government’s geographic sphere of influence is extremely limited. People remain hungry and they are simply not getting what they need.
While most aid workers, predominantly foreign, have fled, a handful chose to remain in Somalia. Millions of vulnerable citizens have become dependent on their help. It is an all-but-impossible task.
Source: The Media Line
Somaliweyn Media Center “SMC”
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Somaliweyn Media Center (SMC)
Muqdisho Somalia
Somaliweyn Media Center (SMC)
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