From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: SOMALIA: International community un
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 17:05:18 GMT

Title: SOMALIA: International community under fire for slow response


geneva, aug 19 (ips) -- the international community has come under
fire for its ''inadequate'' response to the plight of the hundreds
of thousands desperately in need of famine relief in war-torn
somalia and neighbouring states.

''it is incomprehensible that rich countries, which spend
millions of dollars on arms and at the same time work in favour of
world peace, have not made the contributions needed to solve the
tragedy which africa is living through,'' said nicolas bwakira,
director of the african department of the united nations high
commission for refugees (unhcr).

and even as bwakira was delivering a report in geneva on the
state of affairs in somalia and kenya, political parties in spain
were acknowledging that the industrialised world had indeed been
slow to respond.

''it is urgent that the international community intervene to
stop the genocide, which in the medium term could exterminate
almost the whole somali population,'' declared the united left and
democratic social centre opposition parties in a statement
wednesday.

both these parties blame the industrialised countries for the
''unstoppable expansion of hunger and war'' a situation which has
been gradually building up over many years with their ''consent
and complicity''.

the europarliamentarians said that they would call for an
urgent meeting of the european parliamentary commission for
development and cooperation to adopt emergency measures.

this is the first reaction from spanish political parties to
the tragedy in somalia. at this coming friday's meeting of the
spanish parliament's foreign affairs commission the government
will be asked to adopt immediate measures.

sources in the foreign ministry told ips that ''the problem is
under study'' to decide whether spain should participate in
initiatives taken by the european community (ec) or confine itself
to unilateral measures to help somalia.

pablo alcalde, director of foreign relations for the private
organisation direct action, estimates that at least 40 million
people could die of hunger as a consequence of the drought and
civil wars which are taking place in several african countries.

of this figure 23 million live in the so-called horn of africa
(ethiopia, somalia, somaliland, sudan and kenya) while the rest
are in southern african countries like zambia, mozambique,
namibia, botswana, lesotho, zimbabwe, south africa, malawi and
swaziland. (more/ips)

somalia: international community under fire for slow response(2-e)

somalia: international (2)

in geneva, bwakira's report painted a similarly bleak picture.
yet, he said certain industrialised nations, such as the
scandinavian countries, had cut by two million dollars the amount
of money initially pledged to the unhcr for its work in africa.

''this gives the impression that the international community does
not understand that to end the war, hunger and the steady
migration of thousands of refugees in africa means to work for
world peace,'' complained bwakira.

according to bwakira's report, resources are lacking for
''logistic tasks'' like the transport and distribution of medicine
and food, and the installation of basic social infrastructures
like hospitals, dispensaries, children's nurseries and schools.

another problem is the worsening of security conditions in
kenya, which has already received 260,000 somali refugees and
100,000 from ethiopia and other countries, who are also fleeing
from hunger and drought.

''in the kenya international airport there are permanently around
a thousand people sitting on the floor hungry, without identity
papers, a situation which would be beyond the control of the
police and security forces of any country,'' said bwakiro.

''we calculate that around 1,500 people from somalia enter kenya
daily, most of them being children in a tragic state of suffering
from hunger and thirst.''

somalia is split into two irreconciliable factions. in the north,
which once was the british colony of somaliland, general frah
aididi has proclaimed independence. in the south, which was under
italian rule until 1960, interim president ali mahdi mohamed
insists he is chief of state -- a post formerly held by dictator
mohamed siad barre, who was ousted after 21 years in power.

ralph wright from the ''red cross'' magazine, the official
publication of the international red cross, has described the
situation as ''desolate''. in the capital of mogadishu alone, more
than 50,000 have died in armed conflict during the last nine
months.

''actually it can be said that this civil inter-tribal war has
been developing almost uninterruptedly over the past 20 years,''
said wright, who was in the region to collect data for the red
cross.

according to his reports, it is calculated that there is a
shortfall of 400,000 tonnes of food, and there is no permanent
service of tank trucks to bring in water, because the country is
suffering from a total drought.

in the meantime the united nations food and agriculture
organisation (fao) based in rome has warned that if war, drought
and hunger continue, some 4.5 of the 7.7 million people living in
somalia could die.(end/ips/pr-rp/trd/ved/mg/ego/tt/cpg/92)


-- 
Mr. Aaron (Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois