Aid Group: Somalia A "Disaster"

Humanitarian Crisis Has Not Received Enough Help Because Of Dangerous And Violent Reputation Country Holds

(AP)  Somalia needs urgent medical aid to save thousands of malnourished children and wounded adults who are trapped in one of the most violent, lawless countries in the world, an international aid group said Thursday.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, treated more than 2,500 children suffering from acute malnutrition in the towns around Mogadishu, the country's shattered capital, in May alone. More than 2,000 people have been treated for traumatic injuries since the beginning of the year.

"Somalia is no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, the disaster is happening now," said Bruno Jochum, the group's director of operations. "The situation is tragic and we are unable to provide the aid necessary to prevent further deterioration of the situation," he added.

Somalis have few options for escape, as the main border crossings are closed.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and turned on each other. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Somalia since 2007, caught in vicious disputes over ancient clan loyalties, religion and government.

Somalia's shaky transitional administration was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has failed to assert real control. After Islamic militants seized control of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, the government called in troops from Ethiopia in December 2006 to oust them.

An insurgency started soon afterward, and remains a potent and disruptive force. Rebels set land mines and attack police posts and the Ethiopian troops respond with deadly force, witnesses say.

The humanitarian crisis is aggravated by high global food prices and drought.

Medecins Sans Frontieres released a short video Thursday from one of its clinics around Mogadishu, showing skeletal children who appeared on the verge of death. Hundreds of women and babies were shown lining up outside the clinic seeking help.

Despite the urgent need for help in Somalia, aid work there is fraught with danger. Medecins Sans Frontieres pulled its international staff out of Somalia after three of its workers were killed in a land mine explosion this year.

On Thursday, the humanitarian agency called on all sides in the conflict to "guarantee safe and unhindered access" to aid workers.

Islamic insurgents vowed to target foreign aid workers after a U.S. missile strike killed the head of the Islamist al-Shabab militia, Aden Hashi Ayro, and 24 other people in May. Ayro was reputed to be the top al Qaeda commander in Somalia and was linked to a string of attacks on foreign aid workers and journalists.

Kidnappings and piracy also are on the rise in Somalia, where hijackers demand - and often receive - huge ransoms. The 1,880-mile-long coast, the longest in Africa, is overrun with pirates.

On Monday, a German couple and their son were kidnapped along with a French yacht captain off the Gulf of Aden. They were brought to a mountainous area near Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northern Somalia, where clan elders were trying to negotiate their release Thursday.

The pirates demanded $1 million ransom. The condition of the captives was not immediately clear. A clan elder who is helping negotiate said the boy is suffering from a fever and needs medical help.

On Saturday, a Somali employee of the U.N. refugee agency was kidnapped outside Mogadishu.

[minnick8-2009]

And how is this any different than when Clinton was in office? We tryed to help before and were told to get out.
Posted by AJMarine111

I remember that well even though most American''s have short memories. We went there to give humanitarian aid and our military who were delivering the aid were attacked. Now I hear the country is a stronghold for Al Quada. It is no wonder they are in deep doo doo. I would love to go rescue the children, but it is such a monumental task, it seems hopeless to me. Recently, there have been the typhoons in Myanmar and the Phillipines, ahd earthquakes in China, the flooding in the midwest, starvation in a number of countries in Africa. Maybe Europe can save Somalia this time. We are still working on getting New Orleans out of the mire from Hurrican Katrina.

[thisisfunny]

This country is so POOR that we cannot even afford the O and the R.We are PO and so no money to give away.

[kennedy7955]

America is broke, no we are worse than broke - our nation is borrowing money from the Chinese. There is no money to give Somalia or any other country.

[ajmarine111]

Somalia needs urgent medical aid to save thousands of malnourished children and wounded adults who are trapped in one of the most violent, lawless countries in the world, an international aid group said Thursday



And how is this any different than when Clinton was in office? We tryed to help before and were told to get out.