GENEVA/NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) almost doubled its budget for Somali aid Thursday
but said it would not be able to help U.N. food supplies get
through to starving Somalis.
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said his independent agency
was boosting its emergency operation to help 1.1 million people in
the famine-stricken country and was asking donors for an extra 67
million Swiss francs ($86 million) in 2011.
He said the ICRC had good access to southern Somalia, much of
which is controlled by Islamist militants, with two supply routes
through Somali ports and one overland from Kenya, but the
humanitarian organization needed more supplies.
That contrasts with the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), which has
the food but says it cannot reach more than two million Somalis in
the worst-hit areas because the militant group al Shabaab has
blocked access to most aid agencies.
"It's crucial that you can ensure access and have capacity to
operate big food pipelines," Kellenberger told a news conference in
Geneva.
He said the U.N. food agency normally used partner organizations
to distribute its food aid, but it was very difficult for them to
get access, and the ICRC would not distribute aid on behalf of
other agencies.
"The ICRC is an independent agency, for reasons you'll
understand, for its protection," said Kellenberger, a former senior
Swiss diplomat.
"And I think that's important for its perception, for its
personality, especially in delicate contexts like this. I have also
to add that there would also be certain logistic problems."
The ICRC has not given al Shabaab any payment, taxes or
concessions to get access, Kellenberger added.
EXPLORING ALL AVENUES
David Orr, a WFP spokesman in Nairobi, declined to respond to
Kellenberger's comments specifically.
"WFP is exploring all avenues with all partners and exploring
all channels to get access to those in need closest to the
epicenter of the famine," Orr said.
Earlier this week, Washington relaxed the rules imposed on
charities operating in al Shabaab-controlled regions in a bid to
boost the amount of relief reaching those areas.
Bruce Wharton, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for
African affairs, said Thursday it would be a mistake to
second-guess whether some aid would inevitably end up in the hands
of al Shabaab.
"What we would like is for all of the food assistance to go to
the innocent people who are desperately in need and for none of it
to go to al Shabaab. But I think that we all recognize that the
imperative right now is to save lives," Wharton told a news
conference by telephone from Washington.
An ICRC spokeswoman said the situation in southern Somalia was
worsening, with more than 20 percent of children under five in an
emergency condition because of severe acute malnutrition.
Caught between conflict and famine, hundreds of refugees are
flooding into Mogadishu every day -- more than 100,000 people have
arrived in the capital in the last two months -- only to stumble
into a raging insurgency.
In the Badbaado camp, a city of makeshift shacks home to almost
30,000 displaced people outside Mogadishu, Kalthuma Hassan mourned
her three children, all of whom had succumbed to malnutrition. The
last died in her arms early Thursday.
"All those trucks of food have been parked here for days. They
say they cannot distribute for security reasons. We cannot work it
out -- maybe they want to sell the food after we die of hunger. I
am afraid I will die before Ramadan ends," Hassan said, sobbing
quietly.
"Foreign and local people visit you everyday. They take your
photos, officials promise you food, medicine, but in fact we are
just dying," she said.
Jon Brause, an official at the U.S. government's aid agency,
said despite the easing of rules, it was still not safe for aid
agencies to go into southern Somalia.
Kellenberger said the ICRC might be willing to accept U.N. food
aid if really necessary.
"In the end the over-riding objective must be to help as many
people as possible and whenever certain arrangements have to be
made -- in a moment where if they were not made there would be
losses in human terms -- I think certainly I would show a certain
flexibility."
(Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu)