HOME | INFO | >> NEWS | DOSSIER | TERMINE / BACHECA |
KIOSK / EDICOLA | LADINGöttingen, September 6, 2005
In spite of the terrible pictures from New Orleans the victims
of humanitarian crises in Africa should not be forgotten, says
the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV). The Africa
correspondent of the human rights organisation, Ulrich Delius,
drew attention on Tuesday to the fact that each week 1000
children, women and men die as the result of war, exhaustion,
illnesses and mal-nutrition in the war areas in the north of
Uganda. "Although more than 30,000 refugees of the war had to die
from violence and lack of care, hardly anyone is interested in
their fate." The nomads too in the Niger region threatened by
starvation need urgently even more help. "Almost every day we
receive calls for help from the Tuareg. They are desperate
because their herds of cattle have died", reports Delius. "Tens
of thousands of Tuareg and Peul nomads are in the Sahel area with
absolutely nothing. Without long-term aid these peoples face
disaster."
Even the recent rainfalls have not changed the catastrophic
situation of the nomads in the Sahel area who live from animal
husbandry. Since their herds have for the most part perished they
have lost their means of existence. The corn harvest, which is
now beginning, is for the cattle-breeders of little help in the
long run. They need special help programmes to build up again
their herds. "But if public opinion in the world is not
interested in the plight of the Tuareg and Peul, there will be no
long-term assistance programmes for these nomad people, who are
threatened with extinction", warned Delius.
The forgotten conflict in the north of Uganda is one of the worst
humanitarian catastrophes in the world. Some 1,6 million people
had to leave their villages on the orders of the Ugandan
authorities to seek refuge in the refugee camps guarded by the
army against attacks from the rebels of the Lords Resistance Army
(LRA). But instead of shelter, the situation they find is
catastrophic. Instead of protecting the refugees, soldiers of the
regular army of Uganda plunder and rape them. Inadequate
provision of food and medicine causes increasing desperation
among the refugees. So in one refugee camp alone 15 persons
committed suicide in July.