European Union Training Mission Somalia

Transcription

1 European Union Training Mission Somalia PRESS SUMMARY 10 th November 2018 In Media stat virtus

2 SUMMARY TITLE PAGE Three Explosions Rock Somali Capital; 27 Dead, Including Gunmen 2 Statement by the Spokesperson on the attack in Mogadishu, 3 Somalia Somalia: UN condemns deadly car bombings in Mogadishu 4 OIC Condemns Bombings in Mogadishu 5 Turkey condemns terror attack in Somalia's capital 6 Horn of Africa trio meet for 2nd time since September 7 Chinese envoy promises cooperation during meeting with 8 Somalia s minister of fisheries Somalia Announce Dates for First License Round 9 Cash Assistance Programmes Create Dependency, Somaliland 11 Authorities Claim Fadumo Dayib Breaks Silence On Why She Quit UN Top Job, Alleges 13 Official Racism Against Somalis The sordid plight of Somalia's displaced thousands 15 Kenya To Retain KDF In Somalia As Treasury Cuts Soldiers Budget 18 EUTM - SOMALIA 1

3 Three Explosions Rock Somali Capital; 27 Dead, Including Gunmen November 09, 2018 Three car bomb explosions and gunfire rocked the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Friday, killing at least 23 people in addition to four gunmen, witnesses and health officials said. The blasts, which occurred within minutes of each other, targeted the Sahafi Hotel and its surroundings. The hotel is near the headquarters of the Somali Police Force's Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The head of a local ambulance service tells VOA his company transported 45 wounded people to the hospital. Somali security officials who responded to the attack say four militants entered the hotel and went to the roof, firing on people down below. They said the security forces eventually killed the assailants and rescued dozens of people from hotel rooms. The militant group al- Shabab, which has waged an insurgency for more than 10 years, said it carried out the attack. A witness who was inside the hotel at the time said on condition of anonymity that the front of the building was destroyed by the force of the explosions, which blew out windows. Former Somali lawmaker Abdi Barre Jibril said most of the people killed were passersby or passengers in buses or rickshaws. "Two women and an eight-year-old child were among the dead," he told VOA. Other witnesses reported seeing dead people in the hotel back alleys and that those people had been wearing government uniforms. EUTM - SOMALIA 2

4 Statement by the Spokesperson on the attack in Mogadishu, Somalia 09/11/2018 Mogadishu has once again been the target of a terrorist attack causing a large number of casualties. The European Union sends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the wounded Mutual solidarity and unity is essential to defeat terrorism and construct a brighter future for the population of Somalia. At this critical moment for the country, the EU reaffirms its continued commitment to stand by the Somali people to build a stable Somalia. Through its support to the African Union Peace Keeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Somali National Security Forces and State Building in Somalia, the European Union remains committed to eradicating terrorism in Somalia. EUTM - SOMALIA 3

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6 OIC Condemns Bombings in Mogadishu 2018/11/09 Jeddah, Rabi'I 1, 1440, Nov 9, 2018, SPA -- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the terrorist bombings that hit today the Somali capital Mogadishu and resulted in killing and wounding a number of people. The organization reiterated its position of rejection and denunciation of all forms of violent extremism and terrorism. The OIC Secretary General, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, condemned the explosions as a criminal act aimed at destabilizing security and stability in Somalia, stressing the Organization's full solidarity with the Somali government in its war against terrorism. He extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Somali Government and people, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery. EUTM - SOMALIA 5

7 Turkey condemns terror attack in Somalia's capital Triple car bombings hit Mogadishu killing at least 10 people Turkey has condemned Friday's terrorist attack in the Somalian capital. We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks perpetrated in Mogadishu, causing death and injury of numerous persons, said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. Earlier Friday, two bomb-laden vehicles targeted a hotel in the city, which government officials visited frequently. Minutes later another bomb went off. We wish God s mercy upon those who lost their lives, a speedy recovery to the wounded and convey our condolences to the friendly and brotherly Government and people of Somalia, the statement added. At least 10 people were killed in the incident, according to Somali authorities. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks on its website. EUTM - SOMALIA 6

8 Horn of Africa trio meet for 2nd time since September Leaders of Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea met on Friday in Ethiopia s Amhara regional state to cement their relations. In September, Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki met in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, where they issued a comprehensive declaration for cooperation between and among themselves. Relations among the three neighboring nations had been tense until recently -- a fast-paced diplomatic thaw changed it all after Eritrea accepted Ethiopia s olive branch in June. In addition to cooperation in social and economic fields, the three leaders will seek ways to further strengthen peace and security in the fragile Horn of Africa region, according to Ethiopian government sources. A new partnership seems to be emerging in Horn of Africa with the Ethiopian Prime Minister trying to hammer out resolution to the Djibouti-Eritrea conflict so as to include the tiny nation to the fold. According to the Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation the three countries signed in September, the leaders committed to foster comprehensive cooperation that benefits their peoples. The three countries shall build close political, economic, social, cultural and security ties, [and they] shall work in coordination to promote regional peace and security," the declaration reads. They also established a Joint High-Level Committee to coordinate their efforts in the framework of the joint declaration. EUTM - SOMALIA 7

9 Chinese envoy promises cooperation during meeting with Somalia s minister of fisheries November 9, 2018 Somalia s Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Resources Abdullahi Bidhan Warsame recently met with Chinese Ambassador Qin Jian to discuss deepening the two countries fisheries connections. Warsame said he would be interested receiving Chinese fisheries training and investments in infrastructure such as cold-chain, fish ports, processing facilities, and preparing products for export in exchange for allowing China greater access to its fisheries. He described Somalia s fishery resources are abundant and full of great potential, according to a transcript of the conversation from the Chinese foreign ministry. Qin, in turn, said China wanted to help Somalia independently develop its resources and to rebuild in peace. Facing the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, Somalia has been wracked by decades of conflict and instability. Both USAID and European Union donors have sought to stimulate the Somali fishery sector as a source of economic growth and food security for the country. But Somali fishermen have claimed that they re being overwhelmed by large foreign vessels fishing illegally in the country s exclusive economic zone. EUTM - SOMALIA 8

10 Somalia Announce Dates for First License Round November 10, 2018 Following further progress on the framework planning and legislation for oil and gas exploration offshore Somalia, His Excellency Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, The Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources today announced further details for the inaugural offshore hydrocarbon licensing round. A date of 7 February 2019 has been set for an auspicious launch event in London at Claridges Hotel when the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources will unveil the final block delineation, expected to consist of up to 50 blocks covering a total area of over 173,000 km2. During this launch they also plan to reveal the legal & regulatory framework, petroleum laws, local capacity, fiscal terms, round timings and other conditions. This event is also expected to include geological presentations gained through insight provided by Spectrum s 2D seismic data across the open blocks. The round is set to close on 11 July Subsequent roadshows are currently scheduled for Houston and Dubai with further details to follow. These roadshows will be supported by Spectrum. In preparation for the offshore licensing round, Spectrum has completed acquisition and processing of 20,185 km of 2D long-offset seismic data, following a co-operation agreement with the Federal Government of Somalia. This program complements 20,500 km of existing seismic data that was acquired in The survey design, which covers water depths of 30 m to 4,000 m, has allowed for seismic coverage over the shelf, slope and basin floor with dip, strike and recording time intervals suitable for defining a range of leads and prospects. Streamer lengths of 10,050 m have been EUTM - SOMALIA 9

11 used to adequately record information at all offsets, further assisting imaging of the underlying syn rift geometries. Modern processing algorithms were applied to the raw data to achieve optimal imaging of steeply-dipping extensional and compressional features and illumination of subtle amplitude anomalies. Final PSDM and PSTM products are available now. Discover more about the license round, the geolgy of this area and Spectrum s associated seismic coverage on our unique interactive. cense_round.aspx EUTM - SOMALIA 10

12 Cash Assistance Programmes Create Dependency, Somaliland Authorities Claim 09 November 2018 Faced by growing insecurity for staff and the need to cut out delays in food distribution to affected communities, aid agencies have increasingly been opting for direct cash transfers. But this relatively new model of humanitarian assistance is being questioned by authorities and local economists in Somaliland. Since 2013, cash assistance programmes for people affected by war and drought-induced crisis have become a preferred option, with thousands of recipients now receiving monthly cash through their mobile phones. The agencies argue that mobile money transfers enhance accountability, sidestep security challenges and enable recipients to get help quickly and easily. Abdiaziz Ali Adani, head of communication in Somaliland for the international NGO Oxfam, told Radio Ergo that aid agencies adopted cash assistance programmes for affected people to enhance accountability and to give hope to the beneficiaries. He said Oxfam s cash assistance was supporting thousands of people in 95 villages in Togdher, Sool and Sanag regions. The programme focuses on the most vulnerable individuals including aged people, orphans and sick people, through committees in the camps, Abdiaziz said, adding: Each beneficiary gets $85 per month. However, the extensive use of cash is facing opposition from local authorities and professionals, who claim the programmes make people more dependent and deny them the chance to rebuild their lives. Abdikarim Ahmed Hinif, the chairperson of Somaliland Refugees and IDP Committee, estimated the amount spent annually on cash transfers to $6,507, 840. This could have been invested in projects supporting durable and sustainable solutions for the displaced: In three months, over $1 million is reportedly spent on the [cash assistance] programme targeting 6,779 families in Somaliland. With over $6,000,000 annually, such money could have been used to buy about 216,900 head of goats. On average, EUTM - SOMALIA 11

13 every family would get about 46 goats and that would be a life-changing progress, Hinif argued. Hinif said Somaliland authorities will be meeting with aid agencies operating in the region next month to address these issues and find sustainable solutions to internal displacement. Abdikadir Mohamud Yonis, an economist based in Hargeisa town, shared a similar view: The agencies should be kept accountable. They should focus on where the problems lie. This programme is just like distributing food and should be stopped. We need a plan to support these people to return to their previous livelihood. Despite such criticism, however, the delivery of cash seems to be a popular approach among the recipients. Shamis Elmi Mohamed, a mother of nine, fled a rural area on the outskirts of Erigavo after she lost 500 goats in 2016 to the drought. After resettling in Gar-Adag village, 187km from Erigavo town, the aid agencies registered her as one of the beneficiaries of the cash assistance programme. Although she still faces some challenges including lack of access to education for her children, Shamis receives $85 per month that she uses to support her family. EUTM - SOMALIA 12

14 Fadumo Dayib Breaks Silence On Why She Quit UN Top Job, Alleges Official Racism Against Somalis On Nov 9, 2018 Former Somalia Presidential candidate Fadumo Dayib has for the first time gone public in why she quit her position as the UN Women Somalia Country Director. In series of tweets the Finnish-Somali alleged that top UN officials entertained a culture of racism against Somali staff working in the UN. I was the first #Somali to be hired as a country director. Upon reporting for duty in #Somalia, I was told no Somali was allowed to hold such a position. I was verbally harassed, bullied & ostracized. I spent a hellish one year & six months dealing with this Dayib tweeted. She lashed out at the UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator For Somalia and UNDP Resident Representative for being behind her troubles at the UN Censorship I was verbally harassed, threatened & bullied by DSRSG De Clercq as the #metoo movement raged internationally, oblivious to women in the UN experiencing the same nightmares. It s time for a #metooun. I was eventually smoked out & left last month Dayib tweeted. ThisIsSomalia Similarly, other #Somalis holding international specialist positions were also being told to leave systematically. We hold different nationalities and citizenship, our only crime is our ethnicity. Who is being racist here? She added. Apparently a Somali by virtue of her/his ethnicity, is a #terrorist, works in cahoots with the government, is corrupt & biased. They might as well as put a sign saying, No Somalis and dogs allowed. #ThisIsSomalia #Censorship Dayib tweeted. So what s racism? Who is a racist? When the SG of the UN was asked whether a Somali can hold an international position in Somalia, he said yes. So long as they were not born there & EUTM - SOMALIA 13

15 didn t hold a Somali citizenship. Clearly DSRSG De Clercq thinks differently Dayib tweeted. According to Dayib she had been offered the same position elsewhere but declined. I was being reassigned from #Somalia to either New York, Nairobi or Uganda. I turned it down because I am not a careerist. I believe serving is a vocational calling, not a profession. I m still going to be in Somalia serving women/girls but on my own terms she tweeted. The UN has a lofty mandate. One that inspires and drives majority of its officials. I still respect and believe that mandate despite what I ve gone through, and many others are, in the hands of DSRSG De Clercq in #Somalia said the former Presidential candidate. There are 100s of others going through this & unable to speak up. It s clear I was that other, the helpless #Somali that you did things for instead of with. I was that #slave that had the audacity to sit at the table with the #master and his family. Somalia she added Somalia twitter came to live following her revelation. You are brave to speak up on this, it s an issue kept under the rug. The one thing that should ve been honored is that you are educated, returned to serve your country which is the very thing that agencies are working to prevent & one of the reasons Somalia is yet to rise Anisa Haji Muumin tweeted. Mohamed Ingiriis tweeted In Mogadishu, during my recent research fieldwork, a female MP told me that de Clercq warned her not to elect a certain candidate for presidency on 8 February In light of this new evidence, I would suggest to the UN chief in New York to investigate into these interferences After all INGOs relocate headquarters to #Somalia, the next & Min of Labour must take the next step of ensuring that posts that can be filled by #Somali nationals/non resident Somalis must be filled by them, the experience should be a warning Dalmar Hassan tweeted. Dayib joined in the race for Villa Somalia i 2016 but later dropped out od tbe race citing election anomalies. The 46 yr old Dayib was later appointed tge UN Women Country Director Somalia. EUTM - SOMALIA 14

16 The sordid plight of Somalia's displaced thousands Date: Nov 09, 2018 Hundreds of persons displaced internally by the conflict in Somalia shuffle between the more than 1,000 camps for displaced persons in the volatile country in search of food. This is according to the gender focal person of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Inspector Rachel Malambo. She said the internally displaced persons move from the camps also as a result of the lack of the ability to meet their basic needs such as water and shelter. This came to light when journalists from Ghana and Nigeria on a field visit to AMISON sites in Somalia visited the Alrahma IDP camp, in the Nekala community in Mogadishu. Ms Malambo who led a team of AMISOM officials to the camp said the internally displaced persons usually move from one IDP camp to the other if they stay for a while and find out they cannot get food and other things as they had expected. Sexual abuse Interacting with the IDPs she said incidents of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), in particular the violations of child rights, such as forced recruitment of children as war mongers or for any form of child labour, was high in such situations. She said women and children were mostly the victims in the camps and urged the clan head and religious leaders in the camp to protect women and children by preventing sexual and gender based abuse and child exploitation. Statistics Although she could not give the official statistics for the total number of internally displaced persons (IDP) in Somalia which has been in a civil war for close to three decades, Ms Malambo said as at the end of 2017 there were 1,349 IDP camps in Mogadishu, the capital EUTM - SOMALIA 15

17 of Somalia, alone. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in its report on the Somalia situation in 2017 indicated that there was an estimated 1.5 million people internally displaced in Somalia with nearly 900,000 being refugees in the near countries. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), an arm of the Norwegian Refugee Council which specialises in data and analysis on internal displacement, indicates that as at the first half of 2018, about 341,000 new displacements were recorded in Somalia between January to June. It attributed the situation to the conflict and draught and indicated that Somalia was also heavily impacted by disasters, with flash flooding in nine regions which led to 167,000 new displacements in the first half of Alrahma IDP camp. The Alrahma IDP camp has more than 700 households with each having an average of five members. During the visit to the camp which had more women and children than men, journalists could not hide their empathy when they saw malnourished children some as young as two months old sitting helplessly with flies having a field day on their lips and noses. While some of them sat with scanty clothes while others were carried loosely by their mothers who looked weak themselves. In some cases, the mothers rarely paid attention to the crying babies who had houseflies all over them while some mothers shouted on the sobbing babies to shut them up without attempting to find out what made the young ones weep. The only thing they had for accommodation were tents made of strands of cloths and sticks or metal which were so small everyone who went in had to bow. As if by design most of the tents had the same colour -orange-for the piece of cloth used but the IDPs could not explain how they had the same colour of tents. The tents served as their kitchen and sometimes bathroom even though they rarely had a bath. In an interview, the head of the Alrahma IDP Camp, Mr Omar Abdul Ali, said most of the IDPs had come from communities in Lower Hirshabelle, one of the six states of Somalia, which was miles away from Mogadishu. We have no food, no proper shelter and water. Once in a while we get supply of three meals a day through the support of humanitarian organisations but that is not something we can rely on, he said through an interpreter. A 42-year-old mother of eight, Abiba Nuru Alle who EUTM - SOMALIA 16

18 had her children sitting around her, said she lost the farm which was her only source of livelihood during a clash between clans in her community. I lost everything including my husband. He was killed and our home and farms destroyed. I had to flee with my children, she said through an interpreter as she picked up one of her children who was crying. Another internally displaced woman, Jamila Ali Mohammed, 37, said she was only about 10 years old when the civil conflict started in her community. She said she has had to move from one IDP camp to the other as her family was wiped out during the conflict. All I have is the piece of cloth I m wearing now and the four children l have had without a husband. I have nothing, she said. Insecurity and Al Shabaab presence in Somalia has been blamed for the increasing number of IPDs in Somalia. The situation has resulted in limited livelihood opportunities, lack of basic services such as health and education; poor infrastructure and has further exacerbated the plights of the thousands of people who are forced to flee their homes and communities. EUTM - SOMALIA 17

19 Kenya To Retain KDF In Somalia As Treasury Cuts Soldiers Budget 08 November 2018 President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday said Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will stay in Somalia until security is restored despite budget cuts signalling the start of the soldiers withdrawal slated for next July. Kenya gets a refund for its soldiers in Somalia and expects Sh8.5 billion in the financial year starting next July. However, the compensation from the UN is expected to drop to Ksh5 billion and Ksh3.5 billion in the next two years to June 2015, indicating gradual reduction of troops. To secure Kenya and our region, our forces will continue joint operations with the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), Mr Kenyatta said. Kenya sent 4,660 soldiers to Somalia in October 2011 after incessant attacks and kidnapping of civilians by the militants within its territory. The African Union is keen on all the troops withdrawing by December 2020, but Kenya wants a delayed exit. Al Shabaab conducts frequent assaults in Kenya, mostly in the region bordering Somalia, to put pressure on the Kenyan government to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Somalia. The African Union wants the Somali army to take over responsibility for the country s security. The international community pays $1,028 (Sh103,828) for each soldier per month, their respective governments then deducts about $200 (Sh20,200) for administrative costs, leaving them with a take-home of about $800 (Sh83,628). EUTM - SOMALIA 18