Protection and humanitarian aid for starving civilians must have priority!

On Tuesday, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) raised serious allegations against Kenya. "By starting a military offensive against the radical Islamic Al Shabaab militias, the government of Kenya is compromising measures of emergency relief for more than three million starving people in southern and central Somalia," warned the STP's Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen. Also, he urged that "all conflict parties must respect that the protection and humanitarian care of needy civilians an has absolute priority."

For fear of air raids, the hungered no longer dare to escape to neighboring countries. Last Sunday, the Kenyan air force carried out a missile attack on a camp of hungered refugees in the town of Jilib, killing five civilians (including three children) and injuring 52 others.

At least 31 of the injured were children - not fighters of the radical Islamic Al Shabaab militia, which Kenya officially fights against. Kenya's government still denies any responsibility for the air attack and accuses the rebels of spreading 'propaganda'. The attack and the serious harm done to the hungered refugees were however confirmed by employees of foreign aid agencies.

"Once again, other nations are fighting wars on Somali territory, regardless of the civilian population", said Delius. Ethiopia's army was also accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the occupation of central Somalia in the years 2006 to 2009.

Since the beginning of Kenya's military offensive in the south of Somalia three weeks ago, the number of refugees in Somali famine shelters has gone down dramatically. While around 3,400 Somalis asked for protection in Kenya every week before, there are now only 100 people.

The starving people also suffer from coercive measures of the Al-Shabaab militias, who forced more than 27,000 hungry refugees from camps in the Lower Shabelle region to return back home since the end of October 2011. To give the impression of normality, people were forced to work their crops - but as there are no food supplies, the hungered will not manage to survive until the harvest without any humanitarian assistance. "By this, Al Shabaab is fundamentally violating norms of international humanitarian law," criticized Delius.