Somalia Statement

Media Statement, 3rd December 2007

GOAL is calling on the Irish government to exert pressure on the United Nations to take meaningful action against the warring factions in Somalia. The international community needs to show the vulnerable Somali population that they have not been forgotten.      

Over 1 million people have been displaced due to fighting between the Ethiopian-backed government forces and Islamist insurgents since February. It is estimated that over 60 percent of the population of the capital Mogadishu – some 600,000 people – are now living in make-shift refugee camps on the outskirts of the city.

Hundreds of people are dying every day from starvation in these camps but the fighting has become so intense that aid agencies are unable to work there.

The international response so far has been utterly inadequate. In February the African Union promised to send an 8,000-strong force to calm the area but only 1,600 Ugandan troops are currently on the ground. Much like the AU force in Darfur, they have failed to protect the displaced population.  

The UN should either flood the streets with peacekeepers to provide a barrier between the warring clans and the displaced people or make Somalia a protectorate state as they did with Kosovo in 1999. Only then will humanitarian organisations be able to reach those who so desperately need our assistance.

For more information please contact John O’Shea, GOAL CEO, at 086 8527427