The empty Horn of Africa
The sight of starving children with swollen bellies has become an inseparable part of our concept of Somalia. While the world is occupied with its problems, the Somalis are fleeing from their country, this time hit by a severe drought. The most severe in 60 years. In Somalia, people live in a permanent crisis. And every day hundreds of them are dying. There were warnings about the coming crisis as early as last year, and the Islamist organisation Ash-Shabaab (the Young Ones) enraged the international community with its behaviour. But this time the international community doesn't seem to bother caring about this that much. The Somalians are used to this - hunger and armed conflicts have become part of everyday life for millions, with no hope for help.
On July 20 UN officially announced a famine crisis in Somalia, and 3 million people are directly threatened of death of starvation. Looking back through the history of the country, this is not such a surprise as the natural disasters in other places. In the early 90's after the coup against the Siad Barre regime, the international community did try for some time to restore order in Somalia. A well known episode of that campaign was the Battle of Mogadishu, shown in the Black Hawk Down movie. After the failure of the US troops, America withdrew from the region and this cooled the enthusiasm of other western countries. Somalia was left on its own.
Since then, a "state" is just a formal term in the Somali context. Many have speculated with the situation and used it to portray the "libertarian dystopia" but that is a false notion. There is no order, only chaos in Somalia. Well, not in all parts, though. The northern part called Somaliland is actually untypically democratic, it holds regular elections and each government gives way to the next one without political turmoil. The neighbouring Puntland is home to the infamous Somali pirates who are a big obstacle to the sea trade in the Aden gulf. And the UN only recognises the Somali government as a legitimate representative of the country, but it practically controls some tiny area in the capital Mogadishu.
The main player that remains dominant is the Islamist group Ash-Shabaab, which rules the southern part of Somalia, including the regions where UN declared the famine. The "Young Ones" are impossible to control, they rule themselves as they please, and their primary income is racketeering, stealing humanitarian aid and selling coal to the Gulf countries. They have banned access for non-Muslims to their territories because "it is against the Islamic law", and no humanitarian organisations could get in. In result, the UN aid program has refused to work in Somalia because its representatives are being harassed and even killed by the Islamists.
The internal problems in Somalia are the reason for the country to consistently occupy the first place in the world's list of failed states. The international financial crisis and the political problems of the international donors are magnifying the effects of the drought in the region. The traditional aid donors are failing to meet their commitments to the UN, which is looking for $2.5 billion ($1 billion is for Somalia alone) for dealing with the drought and hunger in the Horn of Africa. The effects of the financial crisis in the western countries have forced them to tighten the wallets, the Arab donors have the consequences of the Arab Spring to worry about, and traditionally wealthy countries like Japan, Australia and New Zealand have their own share of natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear fallout, drought...
Standing in front of a real possibility of a hungry death, hundreds of thousands of Somalis are fleeing the country. They have two equally absurd and horrifyingly cynical options. One is the road to Kenya, where they will be put into the biggest refugee camp on Earth, Dabab. It has exceeded its capacity a long time ago. The second option is the capital Mogadishu, right into the epicenter of the war actions between Ash-Shabaab and the government forces.
After declaring the famine in Somalia, various private entities started an aid campaign. But the lack of images of severe devastation like for example in case of tsunami or earthquakes is making people to not be so generous. In a week, the British commission for disasters has collected $72 million, which is a fraction of the $171 million which it collected within days after the Haiti earthquake.
But even if there was enough money, that aid still wouldn't be able to reach those who need it. The Red Cross in Nairobi complains that access to the most affected regions is blocked by Ash-Shabaab. The envoys of various Islamic charities also find difficulties and delays in accessing the area because they usually have to wait for a month or more to get the soybeans deliveries from Europe. In 2010 the UN complained that the US anti-terror actions in the region were hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid, and that it would most likely fall into the hands of the Islamists from Ash-Shabaab.
But there is at least one note of good news in the whole situation. The temporary international attention that Somalia garnered after the announcement of the famine crisis will probably not avert the disaster, but it still gives an opportunity to increase the pressure on Ash-Shabaab. The campaign of the peace-keepers from Uganda and Burundi under the mandate of the African Union managed to push the Islamists from Baraka, the main street in Mogadishu, from where most of their "tax" income was coming. A little later Ash-Shabaab surprisingly changed their tactic and completely withdrew from the city, and that allowed the first direct humanitarian aid in 5 years to reach the people of Mogadishu by air.
The AFP data shows that 29,000 Somali children under 5 have died of malnutrition in the last three months alone. Such a destiny directly hangs over another 3 million people. But the humanitarian efforts will hardly change the political picture in the Horn of Africa, a region torn by tribal and religious conflict for decades. And it is unlikely that anyone is feeling too concerned about Somalia right now, as the world is scared by the turmoil on the stock exchange, the US is concerned about the loss of its precious A's from its credit rating, etc. Meanwhile, the Somali women will continue to desperately queue for aid - mostly medicines and food for their dying children. Again and again and again.
On July 20 UN officially announced a famine crisis in Somalia, and 3 million people are directly threatened of death of starvation. Looking back through the history of the country, this is not such a surprise as the natural disasters in other places. In the early 90's after the coup against the Siad Barre regime, the international community did try for some time to restore order in Somalia. A well known episode of that campaign was the Battle of Mogadishu, shown in the Black Hawk Down movie. After the failure of the US troops, America withdrew from the region and this cooled the enthusiasm of other western countries. Somalia was left on its own.
Since then, a "state" is just a formal term in the Somali context. Many have speculated with the situation and used it to portray the "libertarian dystopia" but that is a false notion. There is no order, only chaos in Somalia. Well, not in all parts, though. The northern part called Somaliland is actually untypically democratic, it holds regular elections and each government gives way to the next one without political turmoil. The neighbouring Puntland is home to the infamous Somali pirates who are a big obstacle to the sea trade in the Aden gulf. And the UN only recognises the Somali government as a legitimate representative of the country, but it practically controls some tiny area in the capital Mogadishu.
The main player that remains dominant is the Islamist group Ash-Shabaab, which rules the southern part of Somalia, including the regions where UN declared the famine. The "Young Ones" are impossible to control, they rule themselves as they please, and their primary income is racketeering, stealing humanitarian aid and selling coal to the Gulf countries. They have banned access for non-Muslims to their territories because "it is against the Islamic law", and no humanitarian organisations could get in. In result, the UN aid program has refused to work in Somalia because its representatives are being harassed and even killed by the Islamists.
The internal problems in Somalia are the reason for the country to consistently occupy the first place in the world's list of failed states. The international financial crisis and the political problems of the international donors are magnifying the effects of the drought in the region. The traditional aid donors are failing to meet their commitments to the UN, which is looking for $2.5 billion ($1 billion is for Somalia alone) for dealing with the drought and hunger in the Horn of Africa. The effects of the financial crisis in the western countries have forced them to tighten the wallets, the Arab donors have the consequences of the Arab Spring to worry about, and traditionally wealthy countries like Japan, Australia and New Zealand have their own share of natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear fallout, drought...
Standing in front of a real possibility of a hungry death, hundreds of thousands of Somalis are fleeing the country. They have two equally absurd and horrifyingly cynical options. One is the road to Kenya, where they will be put into the biggest refugee camp on Earth, Dabab. It has exceeded its capacity a long time ago. The second option is the capital Mogadishu, right into the epicenter of the war actions between Ash-Shabaab and the government forces.
After declaring the famine in Somalia, various private entities started an aid campaign. But the lack of images of severe devastation like for example in case of tsunami or earthquakes is making people to not be so generous. In a week, the British commission for disasters has collected $72 million, which is a fraction of the $171 million which it collected within days after the Haiti earthquake.
But even if there was enough money, that aid still wouldn't be able to reach those who need it. The Red Cross in Nairobi complains that access to the most affected regions is blocked by Ash-Shabaab. The envoys of various Islamic charities also find difficulties and delays in accessing the area because they usually have to wait for a month or more to get the soybeans deliveries from Europe. In 2010 the UN complained that the US anti-terror actions in the region were hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid, and that it would most likely fall into the hands of the Islamists from Ash-Shabaab.
But there is at least one note of good news in the whole situation. The temporary international attention that Somalia garnered after the announcement of the famine crisis will probably not avert the disaster, but it still gives an opportunity to increase the pressure on Ash-Shabaab. The campaign of the peace-keepers from Uganda and Burundi under the mandate of the African Union managed to push the Islamists from Baraka, the main street in Mogadishu, from where most of their "tax" income was coming. A little later Ash-Shabaab surprisingly changed their tactic and completely withdrew from the city, and that allowed the first direct humanitarian aid in 5 years to reach the people of Mogadishu by air.
The AFP data shows that 29,000 Somali children under 5 have died of malnutrition in the last three months alone. Such a destiny directly hangs over another 3 million people. But the humanitarian efforts will hardly change the political picture in the Horn of Africa, a region torn by tribal and religious conflict for decades. And it is unlikely that anyone is feeling too concerned about Somalia right now, as the world is scared by the turmoil on the stock exchange, the US is concerned about the loss of its precious A's from its credit rating, etc. Meanwhile, the Somali women will continue to desperately queue for aid - mostly medicines and food for their dying children. Again and again and again.