UN "concerned" after relief groups banned by Somali al-Shabaab

Nov 29, 2011, 19:28 GMT

Johannesburg - The United Nations said on Tuesday it was 'concerned' by the banning of 16 relief agencies in southern Somalia by the Islamist al-Shabaab militia.

After announcing the ban on Monday, al-Shabaab raided and looted the offices of several humanitarian organizations and occupied their offices.

'This comes at the time of a dire humanitarian crisis in southern and central parts of Somalia. After drought and famine, continued fighting and heavy rains further aggravate already dramatic conditions,' said Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR), one of the groups now banned.

Several other high profile aid groups who operate globally - including the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) - were also banned.

The blacklisted agencies had engaged in 'illicit activities and misconducts,' al-Shabaab said in a statement, accusing them of being corrupt and attempting to spread Christianity and immorality.

The groups were also charged with attempting to prevent al-Shabaab from implementing its strict form of Sharia, or Islamic law. The militia regularly amputates limbs and uses the death penalty as forms of punishment in the areas of the country it controls.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called al-Shabaab's raids a 'brazen act' and demanded the group withdraw its decision.

Al-Shabaab, which has ties to al-Qaeda, banned many aid groups last year. However, as drought and conflict caused mass hunger in July, the militia changed the decision, allowing most of the agencies to work again.

The UN has said some 250,000 Somalis still face a life-threatening situation. At least 4 million people - more than a third of the country's population - are in need of humanitarian aid, after 20 years of civil war and the current drought.

Aid workers who operated in Somalia prior to the ban said they often faced intimidation by al-Shabaab, even in times when they officially were allowed by the militants to carry out their humanitarian tasks.

The UN noted that 8,300 people had been recently displaced by conflict in the capital Mogadishu, as fighting again replaced drought as the main reason Somalis flee their homes.

About 1.46 million Somalis are displaced inside their country and more than 900,000 have fled abroad, many to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

An ongoing Kenyan military operation against al-Shabaab in the south, coupled with the heavy rains, have prevented more Somalis from escaping their homeland in recent weeks.

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