Many others forced to live under rebel control are denied their right to food, shelter and health care, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report submitted to the Security Council on June 4. Some relief organisations in Freetown said the RUF took food from rural areas in the north and made it available to people in Makeni and elsewhere. He said food was sometimes bought from farms in rural areas, but was more often commandeered. OCHA in Freetown estimates that well over one million Sierra Leonean civilians need some form of humanitarian assistance. Aid workers and government officials feel that the most pressing humanitarian concern is securing access to rebel-controlled areas.
Human beings have a right to live.