BBC August 14, 2011 HRW says Somalis are not being given the protection they are entitled to Human Rights Watch has said all sides in Somalia’s are guilty of serious violations of international law. The campaign group says civilians are bearing the brunt not just of a terrible famine but also a failure by any [...]
Category Archives: EU
Council on Foreign Relations: Al-Shabaab and Somalia’s Spreading Famine
August 13, 2011 – 12:50 am
Council on Foreign Relations August 10, 2011 Interviewee: Rashid Abdi, Analyst, Horn of Africa, International Crisis Group Interviewer: Jayshree Bajoria, Senior Staff Writer The famine declared in five areas in southern Somalia is expected to spread across all regions of the south in the coming four to six weeks, according to the UN Office for [...]
Somalia ‘needs more AU troops’ after al-Shaba pullout
August 10, 2011 – 12:10 am
BBC August 9, 2011 AU peacekeepers have led an offensive against the al-Shaba Islamist group The African Union force commander in Somalia has appealed for thousands of extra troops to secure the capital, after militant Islamists left the city. Maj Gen Fred Mugisha said the militant al-Shabab group still threatened stability in Mogadishu and troops [...]
Somali refugees pack capital after rebels quit
August 9, 2011 – 11:56 pm
Reuters August 9, 2011 Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU – Thousands of Somali refugees, fleeing famine and years of violence, streamed into Mogadishu on Monday searching for food after Islamist rebels withdrew from the capital. The al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab insurgents began pulling their fighters out of Mogadishu over the weekend, raising hopes that [...]
Somali pirate ransoms skirt US directives
August 9, 2011 – 11:39 pm
Reuters August 8, 2011 David Clarke and Mohamed Ahmed NAIROBI/MOGADISHU – A $3.6 million ransom seized in Somalia in May was destined for a pirate boss subject to U.S. sanctions, an illustration of how a criminal enterprise that costs the global economy billions of dollars pays scant heed to policy directives from Washington. Documents obtained [...]
Famine: ‘Hundreds of thousands of kids could die’
August 9, 2011 – 11:34 pm
AP August 8, 2011 JASON STRAZIUSO DADAAB, Kenya — Hundreds of thousands of Somali children could die in East Africa’s famine unless more help arrives, a top U.S. official warned Monday in the starkest death toll prediction yet. To highlight the crisis, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden visited a refugee camp filed with [...]
Britain and EU increase aid to Ethiopia while ignoring human rights warnings
August 6, 2011 – 11:55 am
Telegraph August 5, 2011 Bruno Waterfield Britain and the EU have increased aid to Ethiopia while ignoring repeated diplomatic warnings of human rights abuse and concerns that Western funding is being used as a tool of repression by the country’s regime. Photo: REUTERS Communities are being denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to [...]
Famine a boon for Somali militants, Ethiopia opens 4th camp for fleeing Somalis
August 6, 2011 – 11:49 am
AP/Washington Post August 5, 2011 GENEVA — Islamic militants in Somalia who deny there’s famine and block most aid are enjoying a boon in recruitment by giving people money at a time of rising food prices, United Nations officials said Friday. The hardline militant group al-Shabab, whose control of much of southern Somalia and ties [...]
Sudan delayed evacuation flight for wounded peacekeepers – UN official
August 6, 2011 – 11:34 am
UN News Centre August 4, 2011 UN helicopters in Sudan Sudanese authorities threatened to shoot a helicopter trying to medically evacuate three seriously injured United Nations blue helmets in Sudan’s troubled Abyei area, causing a three-hour delay in the rescue mission, the outgoing head of UN peacekeeping said today. Four Ethiopian blue helmets – part [...]
Boy fighters of Somalia warn of al-Shabab cruelty
August 5, 2011 – 12:39 am
Salon/AP August 3, 2011 JASON STRAZIUSO AP A malnourished mentally disabled refugee from Somalia is tied down to prevent him falling out of his bed at a hospital of the International Rescue Committee, IRC, in Dadaab, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug 3, 2011. Dadaab, a camp designed for 90,000 people now houses around 440,000 refugees. Almost all [...]