Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – The international community continues to fix its gaze on the ship “Faina,” the Ukrainian cargo ship being held hostage by Somali pirates that remain under permanent surveillance by ships from the US, Russia, Mali, and Kenya (who claims ownership of the arms on board).
This matter runs the risk of eclipsing the humanitarian drama that is taking over Somalia, where 3.25 million people are in need of emergency aid. According to a statement from the 52 non-governmental organizations that work in the country, the number of Somalis that are in need of humanitarian aid, has grown 77 percent since the beginning of 2008. It is “a devastating humanitarian crisis. The number of displaced people has dramatically increased due to the destructive combination of extreme insecurity, dryness, and the rise in the price of raw materials for consummation.” The situation is expected to worsen, as “the cost of the current crisis of financial merchants will weigh heavily on the Somali people.”
Due to the fighting between Islamic militants and Ethiopian troops working for Somali’s transitional government, 870,000 people have fled the capital, Mogadishu, in the last 9 months, and the total number of displaced persons in Somalia has reached 1,100,000. “We are amazed by the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of armed force by all the parties involved,” the humanitarian aid workers remarked. “It is aggravating the humanitarian crisis. The poorest among the residents of Mogadishu have no means of fleeing the extreme violence and they have very limited means for staying alive, remaining completely dependent on humanitarian aid.” (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/10/2008)
