|
|
|
|
|
Ogaden: A
crisis without an end in sight |
Ahmed Abdi
Nov 27, 2007
More than 2 million human beings have no
access to basic humanitarian aid mainly
food, medical care and clean water supplies.
United Nations have recently reported that
that more than 1.8 million of the worst
affected of the Ogaden population were
"effectively out of reach of aid agencies".
This news came as other agencies reported
that nutritional studies revealed that over
70% of the Ogaden population is experiencing
food insecurity.
Humanitarian access to the Ogaden region is
at its lowest point since the current regime
in Addis Ababa came to power in 1991. With
MSF and ICRC gone, withdrawals of major
humanitarian organizations continue, with a
steady erosion of relief capacity. In turn,
there are fewer, if any, international
witnesses to the ethnic cleansing crimes
that define today conflict in Ogaden. Addis
Ababa's crackdown on international
journalists traveling to the region has also
dramatically reduced any capacity that could
have existed to chronicle the accelerating
atrocities.
This is the context that one needs to fully
grasp Prime Minister Zenawi's insistence
that Addis Ababa can handle its own internal
conflict without international
‘interference’. It is a gigantic political
and moral failure of the first order that
this mendacity should be the obstacle to the
deployment of Unites Nations peace-keeping
forces to the Ogaden region. UN peacekeeping
forces are badly needed to protect the
collapsing humanitarian operations and most
importantly the vulnerable population.
Acquiescence to Zenawi's defiance makes a
mockery of the world's responsibility to
protect’ civilians in places such as Ogaden.
All of these are happening against a
backdrop of rapidly rising malnutrition
rates, specially among children age five; an
outbreak of cholera was recently reported in
some parts within Ogaden; continuing large
scale civilian displacement; and intolerable
conditions amidst many of the villages for
internally displaced persons. Many more
villages were burnt in the middle of the
year.
As part of a ghastly counter-insurgency war
against the ONLF rebels, the Zenawi regime
has systematically attacked the villages
throughout Ogaden region, engaging in the
deliberately comprehensive destruction of
livelihoods of those assaulted. Food and
seed stocks have been burned; agricultural
implements and water vessels destroyed;
water
wells poisoned with human and animal
corpses.
It was a grim irony during Kofi Annan's
tenure the UN world summit of 2005
enshrined, in an "outcome document" the
"responsibility to protect" as did security
council resolution 1674 (April 2006) while
Annan often invoked such "responsibility" it
never really moved
beyond such exhortation.
For there is no meaningful security in
Ogaden, a diffident international community
has so turned blind to eye toward deploying
a UN peacekeeping force in Ogaden. Because
of absent robust and urgent international
humanitarian intervention in the Ogaden
region, there is every reason to believe
that we have entered the most destructive
phase of genocidal destruction in Ogaden.
Thousands of people have already died; as
many more could die in the coming months on
the watch of world community.
The world's choice is to look at Ogaden
through the lens of Darfur or Rwanda.
The expedient consensus is clearly to do the
former; but Ogaden's
realities are shamefully closer to those of
the latter.
Ahmed Abdi
Ahmedabdi49@yahoo.com |
|
|
|
|
