ICRC Bulletin - Yemen: ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid thousands as fighting continues

The current armed clashes in northern Yemen have continued for almost three weeks, and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating. Thousands have fled, taking refuge with relatives or host families. Makeshift shelters have been set up in neighbouring areas, but some people have fled as far as the capital Sana'a, more than 300 km to the south.

The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent Society have registered over 25,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the provinces of Sa'ada and Amran and staff of the two organizations are working around the clock to respond to the most urgent needs.

"The dire humanitarian situation is hitting women and children especially hard,” said Daniel Gagnon, the ICRC's acting head of sub-delegation in Sa'ada. But ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent aid is making a difference. "Some of us have already received mattresses, gas bottles and food," said a displaced woman in Wadi Khaiwan. She and her family had to flee al-Harf city in the north of Amran province. "This helps us get along and makes us less of a burden to our host families and neighbours, who have very little themselves."

In and around Sa'ada city, over 4,200 people are living in Al-Ihsa', Sam and Al-Talh camps, which are run by the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent. But as Daniel Gagnon points out, "there are thousands more in Sa’ada governorate who need our help.”

Over 5,500 people are staying with host families in Sa'ada city. As the influx continues, the ICRC is looking for ways of accommodating more. "What the people need most is clean water, food and shelter,” said Daniel Gagnon. "With commercial traffic paralyzed because of the fighting, people find it difficult to get supplies.”

The conflict makes it difficult to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid, with fighting in parts of Sa'ada and Amran provinces hampering operations. Despite the obstacles, ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent staff continue to bring help whenever the situation allows them to move safely.

How displaced people have benefited from ICRC activities in recent days

Medical supplies

• A health centre in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received basic medicines and a tent to act as a “waiting room”.



• Yemen Red Crescent staff in Baqim (Sa'ada province) received ICRC support in the form of medicines for the treatment 400 patients.



• The Yemen Red Crescent doctor based in Al-Azgoul received medicines.
  

Food and water

• In Sa'ada province, 5,000 displaced people in the Al-Talh area received flour, rice and cooking oil, while more than 250 people in the Qataber area received flour.



• 5,500 people living with host families in Sa'ada city received flour, rice and beans.



• Several dozen displaced families in Baqim and Al-Mahader (Sa'ada province) received daily water deliveries.



• 850 displaced people in Wadi Khaiwan (Amran province) received drinking water.
  

Shelter and other essential items

• Over 3,500 families who fled to Sa'ada city are receiving basic household items.



• ICRC and YRCS teams have been distributing blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves, gas cylinders and other items to 2,500 people in the Wadi Khaiwan, Amran province.



• Over 1,900 people from Al-Mahader, west of Sa'ada city, and more than 560 people in Sa'ada city itself received such essential household items as blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, jerrycans, soap, stoves and gas cylinders.



• 7,000 people registered in the Baqim area should be receiving shelter and other essential items in the next few days. The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent are working on accommodating 3,000 people as soon as possible.
  

The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962 and in Sa'ada governorate since 2004. Its workforce has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the year; the organization currently has 111 staff based in the country – 69 in the capital Sana'a, including 19 expatriates, and 42 in Sa'ada, including five expatriates.

ICRC News Release - Somalia: conflict and drought compound civilians' woes

Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) – The longstanding armed conflict in Somalia is taking a heavy toll on the country's population. Thousands of people continue to flee the hostilities in Mogadishu. They either find refuge with relatives or host families or look for shelter in makeshift camps. In cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent Society, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a distribution last week of items such as blankets, kitchen sets, jerrycans, sleeping mats and clothes for 75,000 displaced people (IDPs) from Mogadishu in southern and central Somalia.

In the drought-affected Sool region, in the northern part of the country, 36,000 displaced people received a two-month ration of beans, rice and oil. In addition, 120,000 displaced people and residents in various parts of the country were given seed that will enable them to harvest tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables in the upcoming months. The dire humanitarian situation is particularly difficult for children to bear.

"Somalia's children have never known what it is like to live in peace; armed violence has ravaged the country ever since they were born," said Dr Ahmed M. Hassan, the president of the Somali Red Crescent. "Although they have adapted their short lives to the situation, they deserve all the support they can get."

Thousands of children have to cope with the task of surviving in a hostile environment where there is a constant danger of being caught in crossfire. Child-care institutions across the country are doing their best to provide children with food, clothes and medical care, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for civilians to contend with the deadly violence.

During the fasting month of Ramadan, the ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent are supplying various orphanages in Mogadishu and the Shabelle region with food. Around 5,800 children are receiving rice, flour, dates and oil. For Eid al fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the orphans will receive clothes.

The ICRC has been working in Somalia since 1977. It focuses on providing emergency aid and restoring family links for people directly affected by armed conflict, often in combination with natural disasters, and runs extensive first-aid, basic health-care and other medical programmes to treat the wounded and sick. It also carries out agricultural and water projects designed to improve the economic security of vulnerable communities over the medium term. It works closely with and supports the development of the Somali Red Crescent Society.

Iraq/Iran/Kuwait: never-ending uncertainty for those seeking missing relatives

The families of hundreds of thousands of people who went missing in past wars in the Gulf region need continued support in their quest to find out what happened to their loved ones, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today. Marking the International Day of the Disappeared on 30 August, the ICRC said families in Iraq longed to obtain news of those who vanished in the armed conflict that broke out in 2003 and in other armed violence over recent decades, while families in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait still hoped to discover what happened to their fathers, brothers and sons who went missing during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

"This never-ending uncertainty is a source of immense anguish for families in all three countries," said Beatrice Mégévand, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. "They want to know and they have a right to know what happened to their missing relatives, even if it means having it confirmed that they are dead."

In an effort to determine what befell people missing in connection with recent conflicts in the region, the ICRC has been providing support for the authorities and for forensic experts, especially in Iraq and Iran. Where necessary, the ICRC has provided training, supplied equipment and repaired facilities. In addition, it has facilitated the exchange of information relating to missing persons between the countries concerned.

"It's a blessing that I saw my son and buried him," said Sabria, an Iraqi mother who retrieved the mortal remains of her son, who went missing during the Iran-Iraq war, in November 2008. "Now he is in a cemetery and I will be buried beside him."

The ICRC calls on the authorities concerned to do everything in their power, in accordance with international humanitarian law, to clarify what happened to those who went missing in armed conflict and to provide the families with any information they obtain.

Yemen – ICRC Bulletin No. 01 / 2009

Since mid-August, armed confrontations affecting the civilian population have intensified in the already volatile governorate of Sa'ada, in the north of the country, and spilled over into parts of Amran governorate. According to initial estimates, thousands of people have been displaced in the two governorates.

"Thousands of people have fled the fighting to seek refuge in Sa'ada city and surrounding areas. They probably could not take much with them, and many are now left stranded without even a roof to protect them from the rain," said the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen, Jean-Nicolas Marti. "Their most important immediate needs are shelter, water, food and access to medical care."

ICRC and Yemen Red Crescent Society staff have so far registered more than 12,000 displaced people (IDPs) in Sa'ada governorate and more than 4,000 in Amran governorate while also meeting vital needs, for example by providing support for medical facilities.

Pakistan - ICRC Bulletin - Pakistan: ICRC assists Waziri displaced for first time

This week, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society are providing food and other essential items for over 2,500 people who have fled Waziristan. Humanitarian operations in NWFP and other parts of the country are ongoing.

"The fighting in Waziristan has resulted in displacement, but our ability to assist the population in the district itself is affected by a difficult security environment," said Benno Kocher, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Peshawar. "That is why we have opened an office in Bhakkar, on the east bank of the Indus, from which we can step in to help those in need at short notice."

While many Waziris seeking to escape the aftermath of the fighting are reportedly staying with relatives or in their own "winter homes" in Dera Ismail Khan, the most vulnerable have been forced to flee further, some of them to Baluchistan. There, many have found refuge with relatives or rented their own accommodation. Some have had to move into a small camp recently set up in Zhob. As in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), going to a camp is a last resort for internally displaced people (IDPs) who have run out of alternatives.

In the past few days, the ICRC has delivered food and other essential goods to about 2,500 displaced people in and around Zhob and Killasaifuallha, in Baluchistan, in a bid to stave off further impoverishment.

"These people are running down their savings," explained Imran Mehmood, the ICRC's field officer overseeing the operation. "With this aid distribution, we are trying to prevent them from selling their possessions to purchase basic necessities."

Dir

In agreement with the authorities, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent are setting up a new camp, Khungi Sha, for internally displaced people in Timergara. The aim is to free up schools, which have hosted many displaced people over the last few months, so that they can admit students for the new academic year which started this week. The camp could eventually host up to 4,000 people. Part of the infrastructure and equipment used in Swabi Camp, which has now closed, will be transferred directly to Timergara. The ICRC stands ready to open more camps should the need arise owing to new arrivals from Maidan, Bar Malakand and Upper Dir.

Even though the security situation remains volatile, the ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent managed to distribute food and soap to almost 20,000 displaced people in Dir this week, most of whom are staying with host families. ICRC staff toured several camps in the district to identify new arrivals, better understand the problems they face and give them the opportunity to make free phone calls to relatives.

Swat

The return to the areas south and east of Mingora has involved more people and occurred more quickly than expected. Even though the situation in the district capital and the surrounding area has improved, it remains tense and security is volatile. Markets have re-opened. Food, including fruits and vegetables, is available, and prices are falling as more goods trickle in. However, most local residents missed this year's wheat harvest and many of the returning displaced people ran down their savings while they were away. Movement into and out of Swat remains difficult. Many families in Mingora are still waiting to return to their homes in western parts of the district that remain inaccessible because of the security situation west of the Swat River.

The ICRC continues to provide food and medicine to the Saidu Sharif Central Hospital in Mingora and to support the Pakistan Red Crescent's health work in the area. The Pakistan Red Crescent is now running a medical facility in Kanju Township, across the river, which treats about 400 patients a day. Many are brought in by three Red Crescent ambulances. Together with their mobile medical unit, which carries doctors and essential medical equipment to the field, the Pakistan Red Crescent is providing basic health care for around 100,000 people in Kanju and 12 nearby villages.

The ICRC is concerned not only about the plight of those who have come back to Swat without being able to return to their homes, but also about the hundreds of thousands of Swatis living west of the river in volatile areas still under curfew. They have been cut off from the rest of the district for about three months and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Buner

The ICRC was able to return to the district this week. ICRC delegates observed that many displaced people had returned. The delegates also visited a new camp in Daggar, built in response to new displacement from an area where fighting is currently taking place. The people in the camp, who fled their homes and lost their livelihoods, are in urgent need of assistance.

Malakand

The ICRC is continuing to provide support for the large number of displaced people in the district, most of whom have opted for living arrangements outside camps. The organization distributed food and other essential goods, including soap, to over 30,000 displaced people this week, including many newly displaced from volatile parts of Lower Dir. The bulk of the ICRC's assistance is provided in the places where most displaced people have chosen to go.

Peshawar

The ICRC Surgical Hospitaladmitted 23 new weapon-wounded patients over the last week. The ICRC also continues to support a programme run by the Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences in Peshawar (Hayatabad).

Swabi Camp

By 29 July, Shah Mansoor Camp, the only camp for the displaced run directly by the ICRC in conjunction with the Pakistan Red Crescent, was empty. Its population of almost 20,000 left within two weeks. Most of them have returned to the districts they came from, though some have been unable to reach their homes. Nearly 3,000 have been transferred to Jalala Camp. Some displaced people have opted to move into private housing or accept accommodation with host families instead.

Raising awareness of mine hazards

Over the past week, more than 10,000 displaced people in camps have been informed about the dangers of mines and other explosive remnants of war in order to reduce the risk of accidents when they return to their homes. Reports indicate that unexploded munitions are a genuine

ICRC Operational Update - Pakistan - Thousands need food, water and medical care

Pakistan: Thousands need food, water and medical care

Humanitarian situation

The security situation in Dir and Swat districts, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), remains volatile. A curfew is still in place in Swat, where streets are almost empty and most shops remain closed. While the harvesting season is almost over, very few people are tending their fields. The population still does not have access to electricity, water and telecommunications. Most residents fled the fighting of the past weeks but an estimated 40,000 residents still live in Swat today.

"Every time we entered a village, hundreds of people asked for help", says Michael von Bergen, a delegate who took part in a convoy delivering assistance in Swat last weekend. "Those who did not leave are now desperate. They need food, clean water and working medical facilities". The ICRC, the only international humanitarian organisation active in Swat and Lower Dir, has started to assist residents there.

The organization is stepping up its support for people affected by fighting in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). It is working closely with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and other partners within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Following an appeal to donators on 4 June, the ICRC budget for its Pakistan operation stands at over 90 million Swiss francs, making the operation the organization's third largest worldwide.

The ICRC in Swat:

• The ICRC is again present in Swat since 3 June. The organization had worked in Swat prior this latest crisis;
• ICRC health team have supported Saidu Teaching Hospital in Mingora with a generator and fuel to re-establish its access to electricity. They also delivered food, medical supplies, medicine for 10,000 patients for three months and dressing materials. The ICRC evacuated six patients from Saidu Teaching Hospital in Mingora to the ICRC's Peshawar hospital on 6 June;
• Family links were re-established for 100 Mingora residents who had lost contact with relatives who fled south. The organization provided satellite phones to these residents since local phone lines are down;
• A food security assessment was undertaken in Swat as soon as the area could be accessed. The organization decided to respond rapidly and on a wide scale since it is the only international organization currently working in Swat.

ICRC main activities in relation to the crisis:

· Re-establishing family links between Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and their relatives (over 1000 in the last month);

· Co-running Shah Mansoor IDP camp in Swabi, which is hosting 20,000 IDPs. Work is ongoing to improve living conditions. The ICRC and the PRCS are currently

preparing the camps for the onset of the monsoon;

· Supporting two PRCS camps in Malakand Agency (10,000 IDPS) and four in Lower Dir (13,000 IDPs);

· The ICRC's hospital in Peshawar is running at full capacity, providing care for 87

patients, 50 of whom are from Swat. 179 operations have been performed in the past week, including on patients evacuated from areas affected by fighting. The hospital is supported by the Finnish Red Cross.

ICRC/PRCS activities outside of Swat:

• Distribution of food in Shah Mansoor's Swabi camp on 9 June;
• Distribution of food and non-food items, including kitchen items, to over 13,000 IDPs hosted in PRCS camps in Lower Dir on 10 June;
• Distribution of food and non-food items to over 2,000 IDPs currently living with host families in Buner on 11 June.

The ICRC in Pakistan currently employs over 800 national staff and 100 expatriates.

ICRC News Release - Pakistan: ICRC and Red Crescent step up emergency response to IDP crisis

Crescent Society (PRCS) are expanding their operations to reach up to 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in north-west Pakistan. Numbers are difficult to verify, but there are reported to be at least 2 million IDPs currently staying in camps and with host families in the region.

"In view of the considerable humanitarian needs, we have decided to significantly increase our efforts to help the displaced," said Katharina Ritz, ICRC deputy head of operations for South Asia. "The ICRC and the Pakistan Red Crescent Society are particularly well placed to do this as they have been working in this area for several months." The planned response includes the provision of emergency food and non-food aid and efforts to improve water, sanitation, and medical services. The ICRC and the PRCS will also expand their activities aimed at enabling separated families to re-establish contact.

The ICRC and the PRCS have invited Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to a meeting in Geneva on 5 June to discuss how best to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the ICRC has begun deploying additional personnel to Pakistan where it currently has about 100 international and 700 Pakistani staff.

"In addition to conducting these relief operations, we will intensify our dialogue with all parties on the conduct of hostilities and other concerns related to the protection of civilians affected by the fighting," added Ms Ritz. "The ICRC remains extremely concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the fighting in North-West Frontier Province, where the civilian population is once again bearing the brunt of the violence.”

Somalia: sharp deterioration in humanitarian situation

Dozens of people have been killed in the capital Mogadishu since the intensification of armed clashes at the beginning of the month. Hundreds have been wounded and thousands more have been forced to flee their homes.

"Some of the displaced had only recently returned to Mogadishu. They were hoping to be able to rebuild their lives in a more stable environment," said Pascal Mauchle, who heads the ICRC delegation for Somalia. "Their hopes have now been shattered, and their painful ordeal continues."

Many of those fleeing are women and children. They are joining hundreds of thousands of displaced people in camps on the outskirts of the city and other areas of the country, or even in already overpopulated refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

"The situation is a cause for major concern," said Mr Mauchle. "The displaced usually leave their homes with very few belongings, and struggle to survive. In Somalia's makeshift camps they don't have suitable food and clean water. Insalubrious conditions put their already weakened health further at risk."

There are also pockets of violence in other parts of the country. Armed clashes have driven people from their homes in several cities in central and southern Somalia. Host communities are not able to help them as they would like to do, in accordance with Somali tradition. The effects of years of armed conflict and a chronic shortage of rainfall as well as the ongoing economic crises have exhausted the resources of the resident population and have made it difficult for any family to feed its own children. Many of the displaced therefore remain without any protection, shelter, food or even utensils with which to prepare a meal.

"Life is very difficult," said Fatima, a mother of four from Mogadishu. "My children ask me about their father every day. I don't know what to tell them, because I don't know what happened to him. I am struggling to find something to eat. We don’t have a place to sleep. All I want is a safe place to raise my children."

The ICRC is responding to the situation in a number of ways.

Support for medical facilities

Mogadishu

The ICRC is providing support for the capital's two surgical referral hospitals: KeysaneyHospital, in north Mogadishu, which is managed by the Somali Red Crescent Society, and the community-based MedinaHospital in the southern part of the city.

Since January, the two hospitals have treated more than 1,500 mostly civilian weapon-wounded patients, including women and children. The hospitals accept patients from all backgrounds, regardless of their clan or political or religious affiliation. The ICRC has been supporting both facilities for many years, and has delivered 50 tonnes of medical supplies to them since the beginning of 2009.

The ICRC has also supplied a new ambulance service with dressing kits for stabilizing the wounded before transporting them to the hospitals. Each dressing kit covers the needs of 50 patients.

Since January, 52,000 people have received medical care in six temporary clinics run by the Somali Red Crescent in camps for displaced people (IDPs) near Mogadishu. The clinics were set up last year. The ICRC pays the staff salaries and the running costs of the clinics and provides medical supplies and training.

Central and southern Somalia

The Somali Red Crescent and the ICRC maintain, support and manage a network of 28 clinics in remote areas of central and southern Somalia.

Since January, 18,000 women have been referred to the clinics for ante- or post-natal consultations. A further 69,000 curative consultations have also taken place in the clinics, each of which is staffed with a midwife, a registered nurse and an auxiliary nurse. The midwife is in charge of pre- and post-natal care, the registered nurse treats common diseases such as diarrhoea or malaria, and the auxiliary nurse is in charge of dressing and the treating wounds. The clinics serve an estimated 300,000 people. The ICRC pays the staff salaries and the running costs, and provides medical supplies and training.

Seven hundred cases of cholera have been treated in Kismayo since January. Eight radio stations have pooled efforts with the ICRC to broadcast hygiene and cholera awareness programmes.

Emergency aid

Since January, the ICRC has provided over 234,000 displaced people in the central and southern parts of the country with household essentials such as clothes, jerrycans, tarpaulins, blankets, mats and kitchen sets.

In May, 66,000 displaced and destitute people in Badhadhe, Hagar, Lower Juba and Sool, and 36,000 displaced people in Kismayo, were given a two-month supply of dry food rations.

In response to the recent intensification of fighting in Mogadishu, the ICRC is planning to distribute essential household items to people who fled to the outskirts of the city and to Middle or Lower Shabelle.

Improvement of water resources

Communities with little or no income cannot maintain or renovate water facilities such as boreholes, wells and rainwater catchments. The lengthy armed conflict and the negative impact of global climate change and the chronic drought have combined to severely weaken the pastoralist communities which make up a large part of Somalia's population.

In order to tide people over until the beginning of the rainy season, the ICRC conducted a massive water supply operation. From March until May it delivered around 150 million litres of water by trucks to remote areas in the central part of the country for distribution to half a million people.

At the same time, the ICRC continued its efforts to improve water supply systems in rural and urban areas both for resident and displaced families. The aim is to upgrade existing water points to enhance livelihoods and to mitigate the impact of drought in the future.

Since the beginning of the year, the ICRC has completed nine major projects and is currently working on 12 others in seven areas in central and southern Somalia. The projects, which will benefit nearly two million people, include repair work on boreholes and wells and their distribution systems, desalination of large rainwater catchments in areas where geological conditions make drilling unfeasible, and the renovation of underground reservoirs filled by rainwater.

Other assistance activities

Most water pumps in the country have been destroyed or looted since the upsurge of armed conflict in the 1990s. This means that farming is now primarily rain-fed except in parts of Middle and Lower Shabelle and Middle Juba. Erratic or low rainfall regularly leads to partial or complete crop failure. Many parts of the country have been suffering from a lack of rain for several farming seasons. The food and seed stocks of most farmers are empty. A dramatic reduction in cultivated acreage, poor harvests, and a lack of income with which to buy seeds have impoverished the entire farming community.

The ICRC is helping the destitute population by providing seed and food. Since January, 138,000 people in nine different parts of central and southern Somalia have been given sesame, cowpea and maize or sorghum seed. To help them bridge the gap until the next harvest, each family has also been given a one-month food ration consisting of sorghum, beans and oil.

Since January, the ICRC has distributed 17 water pumps to farming associations. With each pump, the farmers are able to irrigate at least 15 hectares of land, benefiting up to 500 people. With a pump, maize production can be from one and a half to two times higher than that of a rain-fed crop.

In preparation for the next rainy season and in order to avoid flooding, the ICRC helped communities living along the Shabelle River to reshape eight places in the riverbank and to reinforce dikes.

Restoring contact between separated family members

Another important part of the ICRC's work in Somalia is restoring and maintaining contacts between family members separated by conflict. Working with the Somali Red Crescent, the ICRC has collected almost 3,500 Red Cross messages and distributed more than 5,800 so far this year. A total of 147 people have been reunited with their families and 1,690 names have been broadcast on an ICRC/BBC radio tracing programme.

The ICRC in Somalia

The ICRC has been working in Somalia since 1977. It focuses on providing emergency aid to people directly affected by armed conflict, often in combination with natural disasters, and runs extensive first-aid, basic health-care and other medical programmes to treat the wounded and sick. It also carries out agricultural and water projects designed to improve the economic security of vulnerable communities over the medium term. It works closely with and supports the development of the Somali Red Crescent Society.

For further information, please contact:

Pedram Yazdi, ICRC Somalia, tel: +254 20 272 3963 or +254 722 518 142

Nicole Engelbrecht, ICRC Nairobi, tel: +254 20 272 3963 or + 254 722 512 728

Anna Schaaf, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 22 71 or +41 79 217 32 17

For recent TV news footage or photos, please contact Pedram Yazdi

or visit our website: www.icrc.org

ICRC News Release - Sri Lanka: ICRC makes urgent appeal for wounded to be given medical care

18 May 2009

Sri Lanka: ICRC makes urgent appeal for wounded to be given medical care

Geneva (ICRC) – For nine consecutive days the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been pursuing efforts, so far without success, to reach the area of north-eastern Sri Lanka hard hit by fighting in recent weeks. The ICRC has therefore been unable to obtain first-hand information about the needs of civilians and wounded people in the area. Although thousands of civilians have fled the conflict zone in the past days and weeks, the ICRC remains concerned about the wounded needing urgent medical care.

“Under international humanitarian law, the lives of all those who are not or are no longer fighting must be spared. Wounded and sick people must be collected and cared for immediately, and detainees must be treated humanely,” said the ICRC’s director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, from the ICRC’s headquarters in Geneva today. “This is all the more urgent since no humanitarian aid has reached those who need it for over a week.”

The ICRC has proposed to the authorities that it help evacuate any remaining civilians from the area where fighting has been taking place, care for the sick and wounded, and provide emergency assistance for the displaced. The ICRC will seize any opportunity that presents itself to enter the area and assess the situation.

ICRC News Release - Democratic Republic of the Congo: ICRC steps up efforts to help displaced people and their host communities

ICRC News Release No. 09/102

15 May 2009

Geneva/Kinshasa (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is stepping up its humanitarian activities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in response to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation that has taken place since autumn 2008. The lack of security arising from ongoing clashes and military operations is exacerbating the already bleak conditions for displaced people (IDPs) – estimated to number more than 300,000 – and their host communities in North Kivu and is having a devastating impact on people's livelihoods.

As a result, joint ICRC and Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo assistance programmes for displaced people, their host families and returnees in the Kivus will be more extensive than originally planned. To finance the expanded activities, the ICRC is asking donors for over nine million Swiss francs in additional funding, bringing its total 2009 budget for the DRC to over 62 million francs (more than 55 million US dollars).

"The lack of security currently being experienced is mainly due to skirmishes between armed entities and attacks on the civilian population – mainly in southern Lubero and in Masisi and Kalehe territories – marked by a high number of violations of international humanitarian law," said Max Hadorn, head of the ICRC delegation in Kinshasa. "The entire population is becoming increasingly vulnerable with each new wave of displacement, and some families have lost literally everything. But the worst is that they don't know what tomorrow will bring for them."

This budget extension will enable the ICRC and the DRC Red Cross to maintain and extend ongoing assistance programmes so that more people will benefit. By the end of the year, 244,000 people will have been provided with essential household items, 80,000 displaced people with emergency food rations and 195,000 people with seed and tools. In some cases, seed and tool distributions will be coupled with emergency food rations to enable those receiving the aid to grow food after returning home.

Other clear priorities for the ICRC and the DRC Red Cross are to reunite unaccompanied children with their families and to enable people who lost track of their loved ones as they fled to re-establish contact with them. The ICRC is currently striving to bring together unaccompanied children – some of them child soldiers – and 500 families looking for them.

The ICRC urges all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law. It reminds them of their obligation to protect and respect civilians, wounded people and people who have been deprived of their freedom in connection with the armed conflict.

BAN DISCUSSES PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS WITH SRI LANKAN LEADER, DISPATCHES TOP AIDE

BAN DISCUSSES PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS WITH SRI LANKAN LEADER, DISPATCHES TOP AIDE
New York, May 14 2009 4:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has once again expressed his concerns about the protection of civilians caught up in the conflict in Sri Lanka to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and has dispatched one of his top advisers to the South Asian nation.

During his telephone conversation yesterday with the Sri Lankan leader, Mr. Ban reiterated his concerns about the protection of civilians as fighting continues between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.

"As you will recall, the Secretary-General urged the Government of Sri Lanka to explore all possible options to bring the conflict to an end without further bloodshed and to make public the terms under which that can be achieved without further loss of civilian life," she said.

"He urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to give sober and positive consideration of those terms."

Ms. Okabe also announced that Mr. Ban is sending his Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, to Sri Lanka "to underscore his message and help to resolve the humanitarian situation there."

Members of the Security Council yesterday expressed grave concern over the worsening crisis in northern Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days, in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9659.doc.htm">statement read out to the press by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the 15-member body's rotating presidency for May.

They reiterated their support for the personal involvement of the Secretary-General, and urged the Government to extend full cooperation to the UN to resolve the humanitarian crisis.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that over 50,000 people remain in the conflict zone, while more than 198,000 people have managed to leave and crossed to Government-controlled areas. Of those, nearly 196,000 people are accommodated in temporary, overcrowded camps.

The UN spokesman in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss, says conditions inside the camps are still "miserable," owing to overcrowding and poor hygiene conditions. In addition, "they are dealing with an extremely fragile population who have been through a terrible time – certainly an intensely terrible time for the past three months," he told UN Radio.

Aid agencies, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have constructed 8,000 shelters and erected more than 9,000 tents to accommodate the new arrivals in the districts of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee. They are also carrying out regular distribution of non-food items and monitoring at the sites.

According to OCHA, the last food shipment to the conflict zone – a shrinking pocket of land on the northern coastline – was on 8 May, and civilians trapped in the area are in desperate need of food and supplies.

Earlier today, two ships of the International Committee of the Red Cross carrying 25 tons and 500 tons respectively of mixed food commodities were unable to discharge cargo in the conflict zone due to continuous heavy fighting.
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ICRC News Release - Somalia: civilians trapped amid fighting in Mogadishu

ICRC News Release No. 09/99

13 May 2009

Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) – The recent armed clashes in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have left dozens of people dead. Hundreds have been wounded and admitted to hospitals and other medical facilities. Thousands of people have fled their homes in search of shelter and security. Most of the 400 wounded treated at Keysaney and Medina hospitals in recent days were civilians, including women and children. Keysaney hospital is run by the Somali Red Crescent Society, whereas Medina is a community hospital. Both are supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The ICRC deplores the high number of civilian casualties and is deeply concerned about the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting. It once again calls on all warring parties to comply with international humanitarian law, in particular by taking constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare the civilian population. The warring parties must distinguish at all times between civilians and fighters. They must not employ indiscriminate means and methods of warfare. Medical staff, hospitals and clinics must be respected and protected in all circumstances.

"The people of Somalia have once again been subjected to unbearable violence," said Pascal Mauchle, head of the ICRC's Somalia delegation. "The daily struggle for survival is exhausting their capacity to cope. After almost two decades of armed conflict they yearn desperately for security and a stable environment."

Doctors and nurses at Keysaney and Medina have been working around the clock to deal with the influx of patients. The ICRC regularly provides medical supplies for both hospitals, which between them have treated more than 1,200 casualties since January. The ICRC has been assisting the Somali population since 1977 in close cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent Society.

ICRC News Release - Pakistan: ICRC enters Buner for first time since onset of hostilities

ICRC News Release No. 09/101

13 May 2009

Peshawar (ICRC) – As fighting in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) continues unabated, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today entered Buner, one of hardest-hit areas, for the first time since the onset of hostilities.

With the consent of the parties to the conflict, ICRC staff took stock of the humanitarian situation and delivered medicines and surgical materials to the main hospital in the district.

"We went into Buner as soon as we could," said Dr Bart Janssens, the ICRC's health coordinator in Pakistan, who led the operation. "You can see the scars of recent fighting. There is no more electricity or clean drinking water. Most shops are closed. Goods on the market are scarce. The streets feel empty. The district is rapidly being emptied of its inhabitants."

In the coming days the ICRC hopes to bring more aid to the civilian population left behind. Its ability to do so, however, will depend on security guarantees being provided by all the parties to the conflict.

Over 500,000 people have fled conflict areas in the NWFP in recent days. The ICRC is working closely with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society to provide shelter, food, water, sanitation and health care for displaced people (IDPs) in the Malakand and Swabi districts. The ICRC is also attending to the needs of people left behind in Buner, Swat and Lower Dir.

ICRC News Release - Sri Lanka: third ICRC staff member killed in conflict area

ICRC News Release No. 09/100

13 May 2009

Sri Lanka: third ICRC staff member killed in conflict area

Geneva/Colombo (ICRC) – A staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was killed by shrapnel today near Mullivaikal, in the coastal area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). His mother died in the same incident, which occurred around noon. This is the third time in just over two months that an ICRC employee has been killed inside the conflict zone.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of the deaths of our friend and colleague Sivakurunathan Majuran and of his mother, and extend our heartfelt condolences to their family and friends," said Paul Castella, the ICRC's head of delegation in Colombo. "This latest tragic incident shows how dangerous it is for everyone in the area."

Mr Majuran was 31 years old. He began working for the ICRC in October 2005 as a member of the water and habitat team. He was married and the father of a five-year-old child. His wife and child are still in the conflict zone; their fate is currently unknown.

Two other ICRC water technicians, Vadivel Vijayakumar and Sinnathurai Kugathasan, who had been involved in ICRC evacuations of sick and wounded people from the conflict area, were killed by shrapnel on 4 March and on 8 April, respectively.

The ICRC is striving to continue to bring food to people trapped in the conflict zone and to evacuate patients. However, intense and uninterrupted fighting prevented it from carrying out these life-saving activities yesterday and today, 12 and 13 May. A new attempt will be made tomorrow.

ICRC News Release - Gaza: fragments of border wall used to patch up water treatment plant

ICRC News Release No. 09/89

12 May 2009

Gaza: fragments of border wall used to patch up water treatment plant

Geneva/Jerusalem (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will inaugurate tomorrow, 13 May, the first phase of a project to upgrade a wastewater treatment plant in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. When the entire project is completed, the plant will treat 20,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day and serve 175,000 inhabitants.

For a number of years, the Rafah plant has not only been too small for the population it serves but also too broken down to treat wastewater properly. As a consequence, raw sewage has often had to be discharged into the sea. In addition, because of the lack of electricity and fuel needed to operate the plant, untreated sewage water has on several occasions spilled over the banks of the old treatment ponds.

"It's a great challenge to carry out construction projects in the Strip, as building materials cannot be imported," said Marek Komarzynski, an ICRC engineer working in Gaza. "Humanitarian organizations such as the ICRC are forced either to come up with alternative and creative ways of proceeding or to put essential projects on hold."

In the Gaza Strip, efforts to provide the population with even the most basic services, such as water and sanitation, are severely hampered by restrictions on imports of construction materials, fuel and electricity.

The only way to fix up the Rafah plant is to recycle existing materials, such as water pipes, and to use components manufactured within the Strip. The shortage of cement has been overcome by salvaging concrete segments of the old Rafah border wall that lay abandoned after its partial demolition in January 2008.

"It should not be this difficult to work on vital projects in Gaza," said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC's head of delegation in Israel and the occupied territories. "The water and sanitation infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is in dire need of a comprehensive upgrade. Even if the existing infrastructure were operating at full capacity, it would not meet the needs of the population. To provide Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants with adequate facilities it is absolutely essential that materials such as cement, steel and water pipes be allowed in."

The upgrades to the treatment plant, which are being made in cooperation with Rafah municipality and the Coastal Municipal Water Utility, will help prevent serious risk to public heath and further harm to the environment. In addition, the treated sewage water will help fill the underground aquifer, which is the sole source of water in a territory suffering from a severe shortage.

"We aim at recycling 100 per cent of the wastewater," said Mr Komarzynski. "This project will also support agriculture in the area as farmers will be able to use treated sewage sludge as a fertilizer."

ICRC News Release - Chad: ICRC urges respect for international humanitarian law

ICRC News Release No. 09/96

12 May 2009

Chad: ICRC urges respect for international humanitarian law

N'Djamena/Geneva (ICRC) – International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff have been mobilized to bring aid to civilian and military victims of the violent clashes that over the past few days have pitted government troops against fighters of the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) in eastern Chad.

Beginning on 9 May, ICRC delegates began to visit people captured in the fighting to assess their treatment and conditions of detention. Some 100 detainees have already been registered. ICRC medical staff have begun to deliver aid to the facilities caring for the wounded in Am Dam, Goz Beida, Abéché and N'Djamena. Three civilian casualties in serious condition were taken to Abéché where they will be operated on by ICRC surgeons. The needs of casualties transferred to N'Djamena are being assessed.

"Many people were captured as a result of the clashes. Those who were wounded, including some people captured in the fighting, require emergency aid," said Catherine Deman, who heads the ICRC delegation in Chad. "The ICRC would like to point out that, under international humanitarian law, all persons injured – whether civilian or military – must be treated humanely and without discrimination."

As soon as circumstances permit, everything possible must be done to search for, collect and evacuate the wounded, and to provide them with suitable medical care. The mortal remains of people killed in the clashes must be collected and buried with respect, and information concerning them must be recorded. The authorities in charge must ensure that those captured are treated humanely, that their dignity is respected and that their basic needs are met. In accordance with its mandate, the ICRC must be guaranteed access to all people captured in connection with the armed conflict.

The ICRC calls upon the authorities to take all feasible measures to protect against the effects of the hostilities the civilian population living in the areas affected by the bombardments and other fighting, and to see to it that they are not exposed to the danger of explosive remnants of war.

In accordance with its mandate, the ICRC will press ahead with its efforts to protect and assist all those affected by the recent fighting, whether they be wounded, detained or displaced. The ICRC has been working in Chad since 1978. Today it carries out its activities in behalf of conflict victims, in particular war-injured people, security detainees throughout the country and displaced people in the eastern part of the country. It has 315 employees working in Chad, including 57 expatriates.

ICRC News Release - Philippines: ICRC again appeals to kidnappers

The ICRC has again appealed to the Abu Sayyaf group to spare the lives of the three ICRC workers, Mary Jean Lacaba, Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter, it has been holding since 15 January. The group has threatened to kill one of its hostages on 31 March if its demand for a troop pull-back is not met.

"Our message to Abu Sayyaf is: please spare and release Mary Jean, Eugenio and Andreas," said the ICRC's president, Jakob Kellenberger. "All they were doing was helping people in need in your area. There is no ideology or religious law that could justify killing them."

"We will do everything in our power to ensure that Mary Jean, Eugenio and Andreas remain safe and can return to their families, who miss them desperately. Their children, parents, siblings, spouses, friends and colleagues will not give up hope of seeing them again soon," added Mr Kellenberger

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ICRC News Release - Pakistan/Afghanistan: humanitarian challenges ahead

Geneva/Islamabad/Kabul (ICRC) – The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain difficult in the months to come. The armed conflict in Afghanistan is intensifying and affecting more areas of the country, while fighting and a volatile security situation are causing severe hardship to civilians in the north-west of Pakistan.

Ahead of the international conference on Afghanistan and neighbouring countries that will take place in The Hague on 31 March, "the ICRC calls on the participating States to consider the plight of civilians as a matter of urgency," said Jacques de Maio, the ICRC's head of operations for South Asia.

''In recent months, the armed conflict in the north of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has forced many people to flee their homes,'' said Mr de Maio. ''We have also seen a steady influx of weapon-wounded patients as a result of the armed conflict and volatile security conditions in North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas,'' he added.

The ICRC has stepped up its operations in order to help civilians and the injured, and has more than doubled its current budget for Pakistan, from 24.1 million Swiss francs to 52.6 million.

In Dir, on the Pakistani side of the border, the ICRC is currently delivering aid to over 40,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who do not yet feel safe returning to their home communities. "The ceasefire in the Swat district has enabled us to provide much-needed help to displaced people and returnees," said Mr de Maio. After distributing food to some 42,000 people in Swat uprooted by military operations and insecurity, the ICRC now wants to tackle health problems in the most affected areas and is also ready to work in Bajaur Agency, north-west Pakistan.

In Peshawar, the ICRC has set up a 60-bed tented hospital to perform emergency surgery on a growing number of injured civilians and fighters. Since the Bajaur crisis in August 2008, the number of weapon-wounded patients has increased significantly, most of them with shrapnel, bullet and blast injuries. At the same time, the ICRC has begun to renovate an ICRC hospital that will provide improved emergency treatment and surgery in the future.

The ICRC is coordinating its operations on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. "In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is expected that the political and military dynamics of the conflict will further endanger the lives and livelihood of civilians in the short term. Their safety and welfare will depend on enhanced respect for international humanitarian law, including for provisions protecting detainees, and on a stronger neutral and independent humanitarian response,'' concluded Mr de Maio.

The ICRC is working in close cooperation with the Pakistan and Afghan Red Crescent Societies.

ICRC News Release - Angola: Boy reunited with mother as ICRC activities wind down

Luanda/Geneva (ICRC) – As one of its last actions before scaling back its work in Angola, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will today reunite a boy with his mother in Mussende, about 400 km south-west of the capital Luanda.

Serafim and his mother lost touch with each other 10 years ago, after the boy's father died in the fighting. "I am very happy to be returning to my mother's house," said Serafim. "I thought I would never see her again. It's like a miracle."

Serafim asked the ICRC for help in 2007. A year later, working together with the Angola Red Cross, the ICRC succeeded in locating his mother in Mussende, where she is now eagerly awaiting his return. Serafim is one of thousands of children who were separated from their families between 1975 and 2002. Since the end of the civil war the ICRC and the Angola Red Cross have traced over 2,000 unaccompanied children, reunited more than 750 families and handled 433,000 Red Cross messages (brief messages containing family news).

At the end of the 1980s Angola was the scene of the ICRC's biggest operation in Africa. Now, seven years after the end of Angola's devastating conflict, the ICRC is curtailing the operations it has carried out in the country since 1975. As of July this year, it will no longer run a delegation in the country, but will maintain an office in Luanda under the supervision of the ICRC delegation in South Africa. The Luanda office will provide support for certain Angola Red Cross programmes, such as those focusing on restoring family links. The ICRC will also continue to support the government in its efforts to incorporate provisions of international humanitarian law in national legislation. In Cabinda, the ICRC will continue to conduct visits to detainees on a regular basis.

"Nowadays, it is typically the role of the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society to take the lead in domestic matters of humanitarian concern," explained Maryse Limoner, the outgoing head of the ICRC delegation. "The Angola Red Cross has a vast pool of volunteers and staff who will continue to assist those in need."

Last year already, the ICRC handed over its physical rehabilitation programme for landmine victims to the Ministry of Health and closed its sub-delegation in Huambo.

Besides tracing and reuniting families, the ICRC has been involved in various other activities in Angola such as providing medical assistance, physical rehabilitation, and water and sanitation services, protecting the civilian population, visiting places of detention, and promoting international humanitarian law among weapon bearers.

ICRC News Release - Côte d'Ivoire: Some 17,500 people to resume farming

Abidjan (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will today begin to distribute seed and tools to 2,500 families – 17,500 individuals – in Toulepleu, Blolequin and Guiglo.

"The distribution is taking place a few weeks before the rainy season. It is intended mainly for people who fled during the events of 2004 but have decided to return to the area now that it is calm again. The distribution will also benefit those who lost a high proportion of their harvests when flooding occurred in December 2008," said Yves Van Loo, who heads the ICRC sub-delegation in Guiglo.

Those receiving the aid are people whose primary occupation is farming but who cannot afford to buy high-quality seed for the upcoming growing season. "Obtaining basic seed has been my main concern since returning to the village almost five months ago. Now I feel relieved to be able to cultivate my fields again thanks to support from the ICRC," said Goho Gabriel, a man in his fifties living in Toulepleu.

The aid distributed in cooperation with Ivorian Red Cross volunteers – rice and corn seed, and hoes – should enable those receiving it to resume, after a long interruption, the farming activities they carried out in former days. Eventually, they will be able to build up their seed stocks again using proper grain preservation techniques.

The Guiglo sub-delegation opened in 2005. It is one of five local facilities under the supervision of the ICRC's delegation in Côte d'Ivoire. The delegation's work consists mainly in visiting places of detention, enhancing economic security, upgrading water-supply systems, promoting hygiene and supporting medical services. The ICRC also provides support for the efforts of the Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire to help needy people, and spreads knowledge of international humanitarian law among personnel of the country's defence and security forces.