| PRESS STATEMENT: Humanitarian aid problems in Somalia (April 20 ,2007 ) |
The Government of Ethiopia is deeply disappointed by
the recent statement from the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nairobi,
Mr. Eric Laroche. It is inaccurate, and most certainly not helpful, to
suggest that responsibility for delays and difficulties in the distribution
of humanitarian aid, lies only with either the TFG or Ethiopian security
forces in Mogadishu. It also shows a surprising lack of understanding
of the situation in and around Mogadishu.
No one would deny that there are serious humanitarian problems in Somalia or that hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by security problems in Mogadishu. Mr. Laroche's statement fails to explain the difficulties for relief operations have been largely caused by extremist and terrorist actions, which have included car bombs, and land mines as well as random rocket and mortar attacks, leading to thousands of people leaving their homes. There is still a need for precautions against those extremists and terrorists active in Mogadishu, and there remains a need to monitor humanitarian aid to prevent attacks. This is why there are checkpoints on some roads and guards on warehouses. Even so, I would categorically deny that Ethiopian troops have ever prevented UN access to warehouses or harassed and detained staff at checkpoints unnecessarily. As far as the TFG is concerned, its TFG Minister of Interior says that the UN has not informed the government of its concerns, but obviously they'll be addressed as soon as they are informed. Of course, there are always the possibilities of misunderstandings on both sides - and there are just as likely to be UN failures of co-ordination and communication as of the TFG. I can however assure you that Ethiopian forces have not and will not impede humanitarian aid in any way without reason, and I would be very surprised if the TFG would do so either. Mr. Laroche says it has been a struggle to get large shipments of relief goods into the country. Certainly, this has been difficult in the last few months, and seizure of a ship by pirates a couple of weeks ago will not help. But Mogadishu sea-port is open and fully functional. Mogadishu's business community reached an agreement over charges and administration to allow full operation last week. There are no barriers to food shipments. And, if aid flights to Mogadishu airport have stopped since the shooting down of the AMISON planes, other flights have certainly continued. At least a dozen flights a day are landing at the airport. There is no reason why UN aid flights cannot use the airport. Mr. Laroche says the UN has received a couple of threats that its planes would be shot down if they tried to use the airport. Such threats are scarcely of unknown origin as he suggests: they come from extremists and terrorists operating in and around Mogadishu. I would emphasize again, the airport is fully operational and busy; the sea-port is entirely open. Incidentally, I'd also note that the UN revised Consolidated Appeals Process for aid to Somalia, issued last week, has pointed out that there has been a considerable improvement in the numbers now in need of assistance and protection in Somalia. 1.8 million were identified as particularly at risk in August last year; the number now is estimated at 1 million, including 400,000 internally displaced people, many of them following the recent terrorist attacks in Mogadishu. The Ethiopian government remains seriously concerned over the humanitarian problems in Somalia, and will do, and is doing, all it can to alleviate these. The main assistance it can offer is to help to improve the security situation, prevent the problems caused by extremist action, and improve the movement of aid. In this Mr. Laroche will have all the assistance we can offer. We would appreciate it if he could himself identify the problems more accurately.
|