12 Jul 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali president: We will assist those displaced by the drought
- Parliament committee—Aid agencies failing to help Somalis
- UN struggling to cope with East Africa drought
- Ahlu Sunna names new interim regional leader
- US pledges support for drought-hit Somalis
- 2.85 million people faces humanitarian crisis in Somalia
- Port of Kismayo risks closure
- In pictures: Kenya refugee camp
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali president: We will assist those displaced by the drought
12 Jul – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle – 182 words
The President of Somalia on Monday said that the government is planning to assist drought displaced Somalis who have flooded into Mogadishu. Speaking at a press conference, the president said Somalis are facing tough conditions. He added that the government will donate $500,000 in an effort to tackle the worsening situation in Mogadishu. He reiterated his call for Somalis to help each other at this time of need. The statement from the president comes as a distinguished delegation led by Italy’s undersecretary for foreign affairs, Alfredo Mantica, announced in Mogadishu Monday that it had offered 1 million Euros to Somalia in an effort to help the country’s drought-devastated population.
US pledges support for drought-hit Somalis
12 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 120 words
The United States has pledged approximately US$21 million for thousands of Somalis affected by the devastating drought that has hit the Horn of Africa nation. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged to donate 19, 000 metric tones of relief food to the drought victims in Somalia, saying the food aid has already been strategically propositioned in regional warehouses to ensure rapid delivery and distribution to women and children in Somalia. The current U.S. Government’s humanitarian food aid for Somalia is aimed at supporting thousands of droughts stricken Somalis in the Horn of Africa.
Parliament committee—Aid agencies failing to help Somalis
12 Jul – Source: Radio Shabelle – 146 words
The Constitution and Federal Affairs Committee of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia on Tuesday accused aid agencies operating inside the country of failing to help those displaced by the drought who are still pouring into the capital. Madobe Nunow Mohamed, the Chairman of the Constitution and Federal Affairs Committee of the parliament said it is an international duty for aid agencies to act quickly to assist those starving because of hunger brought about by the drought in Somalia.
Ahlu Sunna names new interim regional leader
12 Jul – Source: Mareeg Online – 130 words
Sheikh Ali Darus Ahmed has been named as the new interim leader of Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa (ASWJ) while Sheikh Yonis Ma’allima has been named as new the interim deputy. The spokesman of ASWJ in Gedo region, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Al-Qadi has confirmed the changes to a local FM station in Mogadishu. He added that ASWJ will redouble it’s efforts in the fight to clear al Shabaab from the region.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Over 100 forcibly deported Somalis arrive in Mogadishu
12 Jul – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye – 153 words
Some 110 Somalis forcibly deported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport, on Tuesday. Some of the deportees told Shabelle they were detained and held in Saudi jails where they said faced very bad conditions. Several deportees claim they were tortured and treated badly while in prison period, while some of them became sick because of carelessness.
Port of Kismayo risks closure
12 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 127 words
The Port of Kismayo in Lower Jubba region is on the verge of closure following the decline in use of the port by commercial cargo ships for security concerns. A dock worker at the port of Kismayo told Bar-kulan that porters are now worried about losing their jobs. Reports in the port city of Kismayo say the last time a commercial vessel docked at the port was mid last month in fear of foreign air strikes aimed at weakening al Shabaab’s military capability in the region.
The suspension of commercial freight docking into Kismayo port by the vessel owners, has greatly affected the activities of the port, raising concerns that the prices of stable commodities might shoot-up in the next few days.
New drought-stricken people reach Mogadishu
12 Jul – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 102 words
At least 150 drought-displaced people from Bay and Bakol regions have arrived in Waberi district of Mogadishu in search relief aid. Hundreds of new arrivals disembarked from the trucks ferrying them to Mogadishu at SYL monument in Waberi district, where they immediately received a helping hand from area administration and sympathetic locals. Mogadishu experiences a daily influx of drought stricken refugees seeking food and water, with a daily estimate of 30 families from hardest hit regions of Bay, Bakol, and Gedo.
Somali journalists in Kenya demands the release of Hiiraan online reporter
11 Jul – Source: Hiiraan Online, Somalia report – 106 words
Somali journalists in Kenya on Monday demanded the release of a reporter working for Hiiraan Online who was sentenced to one year imprisonment by authorities of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. A group of reporters and correspondents covering the conflict and the drought devastation in the Horn of Africa nation converged in solidarity at a hotel in Nairobi calling on the regional authority to release Faysal Mohamed aka Boston without conditions.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalis still feel safe in Uganda even after attacks
11 Jul – Source: Daily Monitor – 980 words
On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, Leila Abdi Omar, 30, picked her satchel and set off from Kisenyi for St. Balikuddembe (Owino) Market. It was two days after the bombings, which Uganda blamed on the al Shabaab, a militant outfit opposed to Kampala’s support for the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.
Xenophobia? For the Somali community in Uganda, the attacks marked the beginning of two months of anxiety. Ms Omar, a mother of two, bounced into Owino to buy groceries. But, moments after she had entered the market, a man first jeered and heckled her shouting ‘al-Shabaab’. She fainted. Some Ugandan women market vendors administered first aid to resuscitate her. “I was fasting, and weak. I am diabetic and have blood pressure. I felt bad when that man labeled me al- Shabaab,” says Ms Omar, who has lived in Uganda for nine years.
For the next four weeks, Ms Omar avoided any market, fearing further insults or possible assault. “I resorted to sending some Ugandan friends to buy for me whatever I wanted.” Ms Umar adds that the situation has normalized and some Ugandans are even teaching her Luganda. She says she also feels safer in Kampala than she would in Kismayo, Somalia. For Ali Sid-ahmed, 42, self-employed, the biggest problem occasioned by the bombings was that Somalis, regardless of what passports they carry, are subjected to unnecessary scrutiny at Entebbe International Airport.
“At the airport, the only nationality the immigration officials seem to target are the Somalis, who are ushered into a room and asked to provide the names of the people they are visiting in Uganda,” says Mr. Sid-ahmed. “Up to now, the problem persists. It makes one feel like a criminal attracting the attention of customs officials. Why subject Somalis to such hustle?” asks Mr. Sidahmed.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/
2.85 million People faces humanitarian crisis in Somalia
11 Jul – Source: Daily Nation – 270 words
Kenya has been listed among countries facing the world’s worst food security crisis in the eastern Horn of Africa. A US agency, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet), said other countries of particular concern were Ethiopia and Somalia. In southern Ethiopia and some pastoral areas of Somalia, the agency said, “poor households are unable to access the basic food supplies needed for survival”.
Somalia has been cited as the hardest hit of the three countries. Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit says 2.85 million people-a third of the population, are now in a humanitarian crisis and in need of urgent assistance, an increase of over 42.5 percent over the figure in December 2010.
At the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, the largest in the world, about 1,300 Somalis are arriving every day, nearly two-thirds of them children. Many were fleeing drought and food crisis, according to Save the Children Kenya organization. Thousands of families are traveling for days from Somalia to Kenya, including children, after their crops and livestock were destroyed by drought. Acute malnutrition is said to have reached 37 percent in some parts of northern Kenya.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
American actress visits Dadaab refugee camp
11 Jul – Source: Nairobi Star – 245 words
American actress Kristin Davis has been visiting the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya with Oxfam, to see the devastating impact of the drought. More than 10 million people are facing desperate food shortages in the worst food crisis of the 21 century. “I feel shocked to see what these people have gone through. I met women who have walked for 20 days through the desert, with children dying on the way, only to arrive at a camp where there is hardly any food and water to go around. We must not allow this to happen in this day and age. Anything that you can give will help people who have absolutely nothing,” she said.
1,300 people a day are arriving in Dadaab, fleeing the drought and war in Somalia. The world’s largest refugee complex is severely overcrowded and now shelters 380,000 people – four times its intended capacity – with many more expected over the next few months. Many refugees arrive malnourished and in desperate need of water, food and health care. The Sex and the City star was travelling in Tanzania with the charity as part of her long term commitment as an Oxfam Ambassador. When she heard about the scale of the disaster in the Horn of Africa, she decided to extend her trip and visit one of the worst hit areas. Oxfam’s East Africa food crisis appeal will help provide life-saving water, food and sanitation to over 3 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.
http://www.nairobistar.com/
UN declares Somalia world’s worst humanitarian disaster
12 Jul – Source: Nairobi Star – 113 words
Visiting United Nations refugee agency Chief Antonio Guterres has declared Somalia is world’s worst humanitarian disaster. He called for a rapid aid intervention to avert further deaths as thousands of Somalis continue to flock into already full refugee camps in northern Kenya where aid agencies are struggling to cope with the massive exodus of hungry children, women and men fleeing a service drought.
Speaking after hearing moving ordeals from some of the newly arrived refugees including a women whose three babies starved to death, Guterres says the refugees from Somalia are the poorest in the world who live in the terrible conditions in already congested camps that have exceeded their holding capacity by ten times.
Mombasa police hold two foreign terror suspects
11 Jul – Source: Coast Week, Xinhua – 336 words
Kenya’s anti terror police are holding two foreigners suspected to be involved in terrorism. The duo, Amri Aoyrib, French and Akamatonv Timur, a Russian were arrested on Saturday evening in a Mombasa hotel and detained by police after interrogations. The authorities have also moved to court on Monday to seek orders allowing them to further have the two men in custody in order to allow them conduct more investigations that could ensure they have a tangible case.
Sources confirmed that the two, both Muslims, have allegedly been involved in terrorism related issues and other suspicious activities. It was alleged that the two have been posing as Islamic preachers and moving in different mosques within Mombasa town conducting and spreading their doctrines. Police confirmed that the two were each arrested with two passports having their different identities.They have been in the country for one month and are on tourists’ visas, according to the sources.
Mombasa Criminal Investigation Department (CID) boss Ambrose Munyasia confirmed that the suspects are being detained at the port pending investigations.
http://www.coastweek.com/3427_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Horn of Africa drought: Somalia aid supplies boosted
12 Jul – Source: BBC – 378 words
An Islamic aid agency has started distributing aid in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, following the lifting of a ban on aid work by al Shabaab militants. Two decades of conflict mean Somalia is the country worst affected by the Horn of Africa drought?
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) gave out dried food such as maize to some of the thousands of people who have fled to the capital recently. An OIC official urged other aid groups to resume work in Somalia. Some 10 million people are said to be affected by the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 60 years. An estimated 3,000 people a day are arriving from Somalia in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia seeking assistance.
UN envoy to Somalia Mark Bowden has also arrived in Mogadishu to assess the humanitarian situation and discuss how the UN can help.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
UN struggling to cope with East Africa drought
12 Jul – Source: AP – 203 words
U.N. officials sounded the alarm Tuesday about a deepening crisis in East Africa, saying they are struggling to cope with the number of people on the move in the region because of the severe drought and continued fighting in Somalia. Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva that the U.N. is unable to say how many people are on the move in East Africa right now but “the prognosis looks very poor indeed at the moment” for helping all of those in dire need. Edwards said thousands of people, mostly Somalis, are arriving at the Dadaab camp in Kenya alone each week.
The World Health Organization said children are at particular risk, with child malnutrition rates rising steeply in recent months. The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said 65,000 children in Kenya alone are at acute risk of dying. World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran said the drought has left millions hungry, farmers at risk of losing their livelihoods and the lives of hundreds of thousands of children at risk.
She said WFP is urgently scaling up food deliveries, but the agency must come up with $189 million more in donations to cover the $477 million that it needs to provide the help that is required in the Horn of Africa. Shamsul Bari, the U.N.’s independent expert on human rights in Somalia, said in a statement Tuesday that the situation is “markedly worse” than in March, when he complained the world was slow to react, and that thousands of Somalis are fleeing to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti every day.
AFRICOM Marine task force to help train militaries fighting al-Qaeda-linked groups in Somalia, Maghreb region
11 Jul – Source: Stars and Stripes – 949 words
With an eye on insurgent movements in Somalia and volatile parts of northern Africa, a new Marine task force has been assigned to U.S. Africa Command as part of an effort to ramp up training partnerships with militaries fighting al-Qaeda-linked groups on the continent. The addition of the Marine infantrymen, coupled with the recent commissioning of an Africafocused Naval Special Warfare unit based is Stuttgart, home of the AFRICOM headquarters, suggests AFRICOM is starting to add some muscle.
The Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force, expected to be based in southern Europe, will focus on training African troops deploying as peacekeepers to Somalia, while also bolstering militaries attempting to take on groups affiliated with al-Qaeda that are operating across the Maghreb region. The force also could provide AFRICOM with the capacity to respond to a humanitarian crisis on the continent.
“We’re not going to go hunt down al-Qaeda in the Maghreb,” said Col. Dale Vesely, plans and operations chief for Marine Forces Africa, which is also based in Stuttgart, “but we’re training [African militaries] to go fight it.” The unit, which includes air and ground elements, could grow from 123 Marines to about 364 troops in the next few years, if the initial missions prove successful, said Brig. Gen. Paul Brier, deputy commander of MARFOR Africa.
The establishment of an Africa-focused Marine task force comes at a time when the Pentagon is attempting to apply more pressure to groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department, such as the Somali militant group al-Shabaab. The U.S. recently committed $45 million in military equipment aimed at helping Uganda and Burundi, which have forces deployed in Somalia, more effectively engage in urban combat, according to the Pentagon. The two countries provide the bulk of the 9,000 African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia.
Somalis worry about loved ones in ‘humanitarian disaster’
12 Jul – Source: Sun journal – 679 words
Somalia native Abdirisak Maalin, 27, just returned home from what he thought would be a visit with uncles, aunts and cousins doing OK in a refugee camp in Kenya. But what he saw made him cry.
The United Nations is calling drought-ridden Somalia and overcrowded Kenya refugee camps the “worst humanitarian disaster” in the world. The Kenya refugee camps, which now hold some 380,000, are overcrowded with refugees fleeing a drought in Somalia that has killed crops and livestock, leaving people no way to feed themselves. The plight of relatives in Somalia and the Kenyan camps weigh heavier than normal these days on the minds of Lewiston Somalis. Other than praying and sending money, they are powerless to help.
Maalin, who works as an interpreter, spent six days at two camps in Kenya and 10 days at a third, Dagahaley, where he lived from 1991 to 2002. “I knew how bad the camp was. Now the camp is double its size. Conditions are horrible,” Maalin said. People live in shelters made of blankets and branches. “Parents are looking terrible, terrified. There’s nothing to eat.” The camp looks like a war zone. “Tens of thousands arrive every day because of the drought. They had to walk seven to 15 miles there without food.” Some of the newly arrived included his aunts. “You cannot look at them. You feel like crying,” he said. “They don’t have energy. They look dull. They are thin, starving. Some of their kids died on the way to the camp, or died at the camp.”