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Chaos as Somalis flee Mogadishu
24/04/2007 20:02 - (SA)
Geneva - International aid agencies reported scenes of chaos in Somalia on Tuesday as columns of people fled fierce fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, swelling the ranks of the 321 000 displaced since February, A UN refugee agency staffer reported a "growing scene of chaos" on a main road out of Mogadishu "filled with a continuous flow of displaced people", agency spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.
The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF- Doctors without borders) agency said in a statement that "columns of people" were heading for areas where health conditions are deteriorating due to lack of sanitation and water.
More than 41 000 people from Mogadishu have sought refugee about 30km away in Afgooye where relief workers are struggling to provide help.
"Hungry and thirsty crowds were becoming increasingly difficult to control, making aid distribution very difficult," said Pagonis.
Hundreds of cases of acute diarrhoea were being reported in areas where displaced people have sought refuge - Afgooye, Lower Shabelle, Hiiraan and Bay - including many cases of cholera.
Hugues Robert, head of MSF's emergency desk in Geneva said: "If the present situation in Afgooye were to last, we could be faced with a critical humanitarian crisis very rapidly," he added.
The World Health Organisation has recorded 12 429 cases of acute diarrhoea, including 414 deaths, since the beginning of the year but many more are thought to go unreported.
Humanitarian catastrophe looming
The United Nations warned last week that a humanitarian catastrophe is looming in Somalia, with aid barely trickling through to those in need due to the fighting involving Ethiopian and Somali government forces, clans and Islamist militants.
"It's very difficult to keep track of the situation and to ferry through relief aid due to growing insecurity and blocked roads," said Veronique Taveau, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (Unicef).
MSF said it was "extremely concerned" about the "low response" aid agencies are able to provide.
The UN high commissioner for refugees estimated last week that 321 000 people had fled Mogadishu since the beginning of February, including almost 111 000 people in the nearby Shabelle provinces and another 109 000 people further north in Galguduud province.
Parts of Somalia around Mogadishu are regarded as no-go areas for foreign aid workers because of insecurity.
Supplies that manage to get through after being flown into the southern city of Baidoa, some 250km from Mogadishu, are being delivered by local Somali staff and agencies.
The International Committe of the Red Cross said two main hospitals in Mogadishu treated more 1 000 wounded people in March, twice as many as for the two previous months combined.
- AFP
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