A Fast Without Reward
Al Shabab, in its ferocious determination to control all of dysfunctional Somalia, battles the U.S.-backed Somali government whose sole stronghold appears to be Mogadishu, while the rest of the country remains in freefall and the south, suffering years of drought, is mired in famine. Al Shabab attacked the presence of human aid groups as disturbing, interventionist foreign elements, disallowing them from delivering food aid to starving Somalis.They tentatively agreed, then relented, then agreed again, to permit some aid groups back into southern Somalia, but aid workers are beset by violence and danger, and starving Somalis are desperately attempting to leave their country for Kenya, a long, and difficult journey, their animals, and their children dying on the journey. The largest refugee camp currently in the world is set up across the border from Somalia, in Kenya.
The United Nations refugee agency is not able to adequately and expeditiously provide the ongoing influx of refugees with tents, with food and water, due to their numbers and the emergency situation. Aid workers struggle to cope against the odds, within a camp set up to hold 270,000 people now holding almost a half-million, mostly Somalis in the most fierce famine in decades, in the Horn of Africa.
And now it has been revealed that the Islamist insurgents are blocking Somalis from fleeing the famine, corralling them within southern Somalia in camps, effectively imprisoning people who have decided to flee to safety from their war-torn and famine-stricken country. Tens of thousands of Somalis have died of starvation, and it is estimated that over a half-million children have advanced well beyond severe malnutrition.
Tyler Hicks/The New York Times"That was a fast without reward", explained one refugee, a young father of infants. "At least this fast is inspired by God."
Labels: Africa, Chaos, Environment, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, August 02, 2011
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