Somalia Too Dangerous; MSF first to pull out
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:33 am
Dr Unni Karunakara, president of the charity said they were forced to leave an “environment where armed groups and civilian leaders increasingly support, tolerate, or condone the killing, assaulting, and abducting of humanitarian aid workers.”
Karunkara said that the same leaders and authorities with which MSF had to deal with daily to negotiate safety procedures, had “played a role in the abuses against MSF staff, either through direct involvement or tacit approval.
“Their actions and tolerance of this environment effectively cuts off hundreds of thousands of Somali civilians from humanitarian aid.”
The news will come as a blow to the United Nations and Western leaders, who hailed the election of the new Somali government in November 2012 as the region’s best chance for peace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08 ... 60450.html
Karunkara said that the same leaders and authorities with which MSF had to deal with daily to negotiate safety procedures, had “played a role in the abuses against MSF staff, either through direct involvement or tacit approval.
“Their actions and tolerance of this environment effectively cuts off hundreds of thousands of Somali civilians from humanitarian aid.”
The news will come as a blow to the United Nations and Western leaders, who hailed the election of the new Somali government in November 2012 as the region’s best chance for peace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08 ... 60450.html