A call for more commitment to peace and human rights instead of military interventions in Somalia.

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) considers the planned deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers for counter-piracy operations at the coast of Somalia to be risky and of not much use. "Europe should show more commitment to peace and human rights instead of planning new military interventions in Somalia", said the STP's expert on questions regarding Africa, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Friday. For the past 20 years, foreign military intervention have only led to even more violence. "It is true, that the counter-piracy measures at Somalia's coast must be fought onshore, but it takes more than activism and combat missions focused mainly on media attention. Without a nationally recognized government and without stability, the counter-piracy measures in Somalia are hopeless."

Six months after the great wave of media interest in Somalia, it has become quiet around the most crisis-ridden region in the world. "But there are still 250.000 people at risk of starvation and more than four million people on the run from hunger and war," said Delius. Since October, another 54.000 people are on the run, 19.000 of them fleeing from the armed conflict in the capital Mogadishu. In the Kenyan refugee camp Dabaab there are 450.000 refugees living under catastrophic conditions, 172.000 of them arrived there this year alone. Since Kenya's military intervention in southern Somalia in October 2011, the situation has become even more difficult because of radical Al Shabaab Islamic militias attacking the camp. Humanitarian aid workers are also at risk. On December 23, 2011, two employees of the United Nations World Food Programme and one other helper were shot in the province of Hiraan.

According to the STP, the human rights situation is bad also in Mogadishu. Somali journalists can only work risking their lives. In 2011, four Somali journalists got killed while they were working, seven got wounded and 19 media representatives were arbitrarily arrested. "Not only the al Shabaab militias trample on human rights, but also the transitional government of Somalia, which is supported by the European Union." Journalists are systematically intimidated by government soldiers and militias and also arrested without any warrant. "Now Europe must urge its ally to finally respect basic human rights", said Delius.