Humanitarian protection zones urgently needed for civilian population

Following the outbreak of heavy fighting for Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, humanitarian protection zones must urgently be set up for the civilians, who are fleeing in their thousands from the city. This demand was made on Friday by the Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker GfbV) following the deaths of more than thirty people in the past two days from the shelling of the city.

"There is a sense in the city of the world coming to an end and there is a general feeling that Mogadishu will soon be taken by the radical Islamist rebels”, said the STP Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius. "The European Union (EU) must at last face up to reality and must no longer paint a rosy picture of the dramatic position of the transitional government, which it supports. The EU must urgently make do all it can to ensure that all parties to the conflict respect the minimum standards of humanitarian international law.”

"The EU must speak out for the signing of a humanitarian protocol. The conflict parties must commit themselves to ensuring that aid agencies are able to reach the civilian population, which is in such distress. Protection areas must also be set up in which the civilians are safe from bombardment and the violation of human rights”, emphasized Delius. Since January 2010 more than 82,000 civilians have had to flee from new fighting and shelling.

"The arbitrary shelling of residential areas is a war crime and cannot be taken lying down by the international community of states”, said Delius. Most of the inhabitants fleeing from the city have been traumatized by months of shelling and 19 years of civil war. They urgently need humanitarian aid. "The EU cannot just fold its hands and watch Somalia’s civilians being misused as hostages in a power struggle for control of the country”, warned Delius.

It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Somali refugees to find refuge in the neighbouring countries of Kenya and Yemen. Kenya sharpened its border controls in the north in January 2010 to prevent a new flood of Somali refugees and the government of Yemen announced last month that it would take in fewer refugees from Somalia. There has been a marked increase in the number of attacks on Somali refugees in Yemen since the announcement by Somali rebels that they would cooperate with rebels in the north of Yemen. About 800,000 people fled last year from the violence in Somalia.

Ulrich Delius can be reached at asien@gfbv.de