INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR SOMALIA MORE CRUCIAL THAN EVER BEFORE, SAYS UN ENVOY

The top United Nations envoy for Somalia today called on the Security Council to take "concrete" steps to help bring stability to the strife-torn nation, stressing that the support of the international community is more important now than ever.

"I believe that today we are at a turning point," Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia, said as he briefed the Security Council.

"It is clear that the population and its traditional leaders reject violence and those behind it. Therefore, the support of the international community is even more crucial at this time."

Despite the signing of peace agreements, the formation of a new government and election of a new president, Somalia has seen a resurgence of violence in recent months.

Fighting between Government forces and the Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam militant groups in Mogadishu since early May have forced over 200,000 people from their homes, many of them for the second time over the course of the past year.

"The Somali people have endured too much – they have seen their loved ones killed and maimed, been forced to flee their homes again and again and suffered endless abuses of their human rights," said Mr. Ould-Abdallah.

He called on the 15-member Council to take action to help the Horn of Africa nation, noting that "past failures should not discourage us from taking future action to help stability."

While the Government has made important strides, it still needs immediate political and financial support to improve the situation, he said, adding that the authorities in Puntland and Somaliland also need resources to ensure that stability endures.

The Special Representative also echoed the call made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his recent report to boost the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). "The African Union troops have shown remarkable courage and dedication in solidarity with the Somali people. They deserve the backing of all Council members," said Mr. Ould-Abdallah.

Mr. Ban had also urged the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to press ahead with encouraging opposition groups to work towards peace in Somalia. His envoy noted that due to their proximity, knowledge and interest in Somalia, IGAD member States should be recognized as having a leading role on Somali issues.

He added that the time has come for the UN to show it is serious about moving to Somalia. "Our temporary presence in Nairobi has lasted far too long. We can only work effectively for peace with the Somalis and address pressing humanitarian needs if we are close to the victims of famine, violence and different abuses.

"My office and other leading UN agencies, including humanitarian ones, along with concerned diplomats and NGOs [non-governmental organizations], should move to Mogadishu," Mr. Ould-Abdallah stated, adding that the establishment of a "Green Zone," similar to those elsewhere, will facilitate this process.
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CLASHES IN SOMALIA FORCING MORE REFUGEES ACROSS GULF OF ADEN – UN AGENCY

Fleeing escalating violence in the capital, Mogadishu, and central Somalia, thousands of Somalis are making the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden to begin new lives in Yemen, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

Some 12,000 Somalis – out of 232,000 people who have escaped clashes that broke out in early May between Government forces and the Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam militant groups – have reached the northern port town of Bossaso since early May, and most of them are hoping that smugglers will transport them to Yemen.

Partners of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report that Bossaso is already very crowded and that smugglers are already collecting cash from refugees trying to reach Yemen.

"As the sea is already very dangerous because of the prevailing conditions, the majority of the people are expected to camp in Bossaso and wait for September, when winds are more favourable," UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva today.

Last year, over 50,000 people reached Yemen's shores, marking a 70 per cent increase from 2007. During the first half of 2009 alone, more than 30,000 people have made the "dangerous journey" to Yemen, Mr. Redmond noted.

In 2008, over 1,000 people died, either being thrown overboard or forced to disembark from boats too far from the shore by smugglers, as they attempted to make landfall in Yemen, he added.

So far this year, nearly 300 people have lost their lives or are missing as they tried to cross the Gulf of Aden, according to UNHCR.

"The smuggling phenomenon places increasing strain on Yemen's limited resources and poses more challenges to the Government's efforts to balance its obligations under international law with the need to protect the country from illegal entry," Mr. Redmond said.

New arrivals are picked up by UNHCR's partner agencies and taken to reception centres where they are registered and given food, shelter, medical assistance and other basic assistance while they recover from their journey.

"The Government of Yemen recognizes Somalis as refugees on a prima facie basis," the agency's spokesperson said, adding that the refugees can choose to shelter at the Kharaz camp two hours west of the Yemeni capital, Aden, where they receive legal and physical protection and help.

Already 13,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia, have made Kharaz camp home temporarily, while tens of thousands of other refugees have chosen to stay in urban areas around Yemen.

Somalia is one of the world's biggest refugee-producing countries, and UNHCR is providing protection and assistance to nearly 500,000 Somali refugees in nearby countries while also reaching out to 1.3 million people displaced within Somalia.
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REPORTS FROM SOMALIA SUGGEST POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES, SAYS UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF

It is clear that grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law – possibly amounting to war crimes – are being committed in strife-torn Somalia, a top United Nations official said today.

Despite the signing of a peace accord last year and the formation of a new government this past February, ongoing violence has caused enormous suffering and massive displacement in the Horn of Africa nation.

More than 200,000 people have been forced to flee the capital, Mogadishu, since the latest round of fighting began in early May between the Government and the Al-Shabab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups.

"In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians – especially women and children – are bearing the brunt of the violence," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, noting that attacks against civilians have been one of the main features of the conflicts that have engulfed the country since 1991.

"There needs to be a much greater effort to protect civilians. Displaced people and human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted," she added.

UN investigators who spoke with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) that fled the recent surge in fighting were told that the Al-Shabab groups have carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas, and used civilians as human shields, according to a news release from the High Commissioner's office (OHCHR).

In addition, fighters from both sides are reported to have used torture, and fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians. There has also been increasing evidence of child recruitment by various forces.

"Some of these acts might amount to war crimes," Ms. Pillay said.

She added that the work of human rights defenders and journalists in Mogadishu has become "extremely precarious," with six journalists having been killed in Mogadishu – four of them apparently victims of target assassinations – since the beginning of the year.

"It is vital that the fighting and violence stop as soon as possible," the High Commissioner said, adding that once order has been restored, those responsible for human rights violations and abuses should be brought to justice.

"The gathering of evidence, by all who are in a position to do so, has to continue so that those committing these terrible crimes in Somalia will one day receive their due punishment before a court of law, and their victims will finally see justice being done," she stated.

Meanwhile, in response to the displacement crisis facing many civilians from Mogadishu, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners are working to address the needs of those uprooted from their homes.

They are distributing emergency supplies, including plastic sheets, blankets, jerry cans, soap and mosquito nets, for over 6,000 households – about 47,000 people – in and around Mogadishu.

The majority of the displaced persons have moved to the Afgooye corridor, a stretch of very densely populated displacement settlements, which is already hosting about 400,000 people.
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FORMER SOMALI ARMY OFFICERS TO MEET FOR UN-BACKED TALKS IN US CAPITAL

FORMER SOMALI ARMY OFFICERS TO MEET FOR UN-BACKED TALKS IN US CAPITAL
New York, Jun 3 2009 12:00PM
Former senior army officers from Somalia are slated to meet in Washington D.C. tomorrow for United Nations-backed talks aimed at bolstering security institutions in the strife-torn nation.

The two-day gathering, arranged with the support of the Somali Ministry of Defence and the UN Political Office for Somalia (<"http://www.un-somalia.org/">UNPOS), will look at the structure of Somalia's military before the collapse of the State and the best ways to address the country's current and future security needs.

"We are expecting this to be the first of several fruitful meetings," <"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-7SND4K?OpenDocument&query=washington,%20dc&rc=1">said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia.

Stressing that this is a "great opportunity for Somalis to find within their past some solutions for the future," Mr. Ould-Abdallah noted that the former Somali military officers participating in this meeting are respected for their experience in training soldiers from other African nations.

UNPOS said in a press release that the meeting will serve to prepare for follow-up discussions with Somalia's top military officials, expected to take place in late July, as part of the Government's commitment under the Djibouti Agreement to strengthen its defence forces.

Last week Mr. Ould-Abdallah told a news conference in New York that after visiting the Horn of Africa nation, it was "very sad to see how the city [Mogadishu], the population and the country are taken hostage by those who have been fighting and destroying their country over the last 20 years."

During his visit, he had spoken with Government leaders about the latest developments there, including the breakout of intense fighting in early May between Government troops and the opposition Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups. He said that up to 75,000 people, who had fled the country and returned earlier this year, had fled again because of the renewed fighting.
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SITUATION IN SOMALIA DIFFICULT, BUT NOT ‘HOPELESS,’ SAYS TOP UN ENVOY

SITUATION IN SOMALIA DIFFICULT, BUT NOT 'HOPELESS,' SAYS TOP UN ENVOY
New York, May 22 2009 5:00PM
The top United Nations envoy to Somalia today characterized the situation in the Horn of Africa nation as "very difficult … but not hopeless," as news media reported fresh outbreaks of deadly clashes in the capital, Mogadishu.

Speaking to UN Radio from his headquarters in Nairobi, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, said that among the tragedies, there was the fact that many of the people fleeing the capital were escaping violence for at least the second time.

They had returned to Mogadishu after the signing of the UN-backed peace agreements in Djibouti in January, only to be sent running for their lives again after intense fighting between Government troops and the opposition Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups began in Mogadishu on 8 May.

Most of the uprooted have headed to makeshift camps south-west of the capital that already are home to some 400,000 people.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) reported today that some 46,000 people had fled the capital since the fighting broke out earlier this month.

"I hope they will return soon with the betterment of the situation," Mr. Ould-Abdallah said today.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that over 50,000 severely malnourished children throughout the country will be without supplies because of the fighting in Mogadishu and the 17 May looting of a UNICEF office in the town of Jowhar, 90 kilometres north of the capital, which serves as the main hub for the provision of services and supplies to the whole of the central and southern regions of Somalia.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah said today that he does not believe the current situation in Somalia is hopeless.

"It is a long-running conflict," he said, noting that "the tragedy in Somalia is the central government has been very weak."

With the Djibouti peace agreement, the Representative said, "we have the beginning of a credible [government]. We have to help it be functional."

Acknowledging that it is a "tough job," he underscored that the situation is "not hopeless – and it may in fact work!"

<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF has reported that the looting of its Jowhar office has resulted in the destruction of humanitarian supplies, assets and equipment, including vaccine cold storage, rendering thousands of doses of measles, polio and other vaccines for Somali children unusable.

However, UNICEF and UNHCR said today that they plan to go ahead with a major distribution of non-food items in the coming days, targeting more than 100,000 displaced people.

The UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/">WFP) reported that dry food distributions had not been adversely affected as of Thursday, with 14 out of 16 distribution points in Mogadishu serving over 80,000 cooked meals on a daily basis.
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