AFRICA/SOMALIA - "After military action, social and economic development is now necessary", said Mgr. Bertin

Friday, 10 October 2014

Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) - "Military operations must be followed by a real economic development and the creation of State structures if one wants to stabilize Somalia", says to Fides Agency His Exc. Mgr. Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, where in recent weeks the troops of AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) have managed to conquer some important strongholds of the Shabaab extremists. "The Shabaab have not yet been defeated, and faced with the offensive carried out by Somali troops and AMISOM they could be hiding among the population and then resort to terrorism. To convince people to side with the State means that it must bring benefits to the people in terms of economic and social development, such as schools and social services", explains Mgr. Bertin.
"The problem is not so much the lack of funds, given that international donors like the European Union for years have contributed financially to efforts to stabilize Somalia, but it is the local corruption that prevents the money to get where it is needed", continues Mgr. Bertin. "For example, Somali soldiers on several occasions have sold their weapons to the Shabaab. This is because for months they did not receive the salary regularly paid by the EU, but ended up within the Somali bureaucratic administration".
The instability of Somalia is added to that of other neighboring countries, even Yemen, in the throes of a civil war that has already seriously undermined state institutions. Between Somalia and Yemen licit and illicit trade flows are constant. "Yes indeed illicit flows occur due to the instability of the two Countries, which end up fueling the various warring factions. There are arms trafficking, human trafficking and Khat, the traditional drug of the Horn of Africa. The latter is mainly grown in Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen".
In this regard, Mgr. Bertin notes that "in a Country like Somalia where humanitarian aid on several occasions is hard to reach, the consignment of Khat never stops. There are "Khat planes" that ply regularly between Mogadishu and Kenya and are then used as passenger planes on the way back to Nairobi, after unloading the drug in Somalia. On some occasions planes are the only connection between Mogadishu and the rest of the world".
Mgr. Bertin concludes by stating that "Khat is therefore a social problem even more than health care. People spend an important part of their meager earnings to buy the drug, at the expense of family needs". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/10/2014)


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