Famine Victims May Be Beyond Aid
Nairobi (The Seattle Times) — Half a million victims of famine in southern Somalia, trapped inside territory controlled by the rebel militia al-Shabaab, may be largely beyond the help of Western agencies, Somalia expert Ken Menkhaus writes in a paper for the Enough Project.
Access to the south, the region hardest hit by famine, remains difficult and dangerous for humanitarian agencies, with some banned from operating in the south, and myriad rules and bureaucratic requirements for those allowed access.
Al-Shabaab’s handling of the famine amounts to crimes against humanity, terrorizing people into submission, confiscating their produce and taxing them into poverty in the name of jihad. As they now starve, al-Shabaab denies them even the opportunity to migrate in search of food.
Menkhaus says that the bizarre and extremist behavior of al-Shabaab, has made it unclear whether the West and the United Nations can realistically do much to help the 500,000 famine victims trapped in territory under its control. He said the best possibility is for Islamic nations to press al-Shabaab to change its policies on the famine, and that the international communities press the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) to follow through with the delivery of aid to the starving.
SOURCE: Expert: Somali Famine Victims May Be Beyond Aid
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016692151_famine06.html
RELIABILITY: 8
Comments
Post a Comment