By Nicolo Gnecchi
Monday, August 20, 2007
The latest aid agency to sound the alarm over Somalia's humanitarian crisis, Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) called for all parties involved in the Somali conflict to allow safe access to medical assistance for the thousands in need.
"With bombings and shootings nearly daily in Mogadishu, people in need of medical care are terrified to leave their homes, medical personnel are fleeing the city, and hospitals are closed or barely functioning," MSF International President Christophe Fournier told reporters.
Clashes between Islamist-led insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces have raged since January, with upsurges in March, April and now August. MSF deplored the humanitarian situation as "shocking and absolutely unacceptable".
"Less than 250 out of 800 hospital beds available in Mogadishu in January are still in service. Since then, three quarters of the staff in several of these hospitals have also left," Fournier added.
Three expatriate doctors running MSF's operations in Somalia said at the news conference in Nairobi that they were temporarily unable to return to their jobs in Mogadishu because of insecurity.
The agency said a third wave of citizens since January were fleeing the capital to live in emergency camps in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Somalis are in dire need of basic provisions and assistance.
A recent assessment led by MSF showed 38 percent of children in displaced families are suffering acute malnutrition, and 12 percent are severely malnourished and at immediate risk of dying.
"Since July we have seen 30,000 new Internally Displaced People trying to settle outside the capital with a lack of access to clean water, food, shelter and of course health care," said Gustavo Fernando, head of MSF in Somalia.
Aid workers say the humanitarian situation is worse than at any time since the mass exodus from Mogadishu when former military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre fell in 1991.
MSF has called for all parties to provide safe conditions for medical staff to operate.
"MSF is angered and deeply unsatisfied with the level and quality of care it is currently able to provide for civilians in Mogadishu and for displaced people around the city," said Fournier.
Source: Reuters, Aug 20, 2007