SOMALIA: UN Expresses Concerns on Security
François Lonsény Fall; Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy to Somalia was quoted as saying: Â
I am deeply troubled by reports of recent fighting in Mogadishu and the news that civilians, including children, are among those who have been killed and wounded. (…) I am also alarmed by reports that hundreds of families have been forced from their homes by the indiscriminate exchange of fire from heavy weaponry. It is totally unacceptable that the lives, homes and security of Somali civilians should be the theatre for such violence. (…) I appeal to those in charge of these forces in Mogadishu to resolve their grievances peacefully.Â
I share Mr. Fall’s serious concerns regarding the deteriorating security situation in Somalia, and Mogadishu in particular. However, I do believe that the UN should acknowledge the fact that it is increasingly becoming part of the problem in Somalia and not the solution! The UN’s policy towards Somalia is without a doubt full of contradictions based on poorly thought and badly researched situational analysis on the ground in Somalia. The UN certainly lacks people with an expert knowledge on Somalia, its people and its culture; someone who could put the current Somali problems into its proper economic and political context.Â
For instance, on one hand the UN is complaining about the security problems in the country (and rightly so) and the lack of access to the victims of drought, on the other hand the UN is refusing bizarrely the deployment of keeping security forces into the country! You can’t have your cake and eat it. Can you? The UN is failing the Somali people and it should do better!
Click here for the full article on the UN Newswire.Â