(Somalia, Sep 01,  2011 Ceegaag Online)

Somalia is currently experiencing what has been declared the worst drought that the region has ever come across in 60 years. Droughts are a natural phenomenon in Somalia. Unfortunately, the southern part of the country is deeply revolved around farming, therefore it was these areas that were most affected by the drought. Somalis are nomads who depend on their livestock for everyday life so when rainfall hasn’t occurred in a period of time, they were well prepared for the consequences.

This crisis differs from past droughts as its effects are more prominent. 11 million civilians are in desperate need of help. There were reports claiming that in the last 90 days over 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died. As a result of the drought, there has also been an increase in food prices causing excess starvation as the civilians cannot afford to buy it.

On August 21, 2010, I wrote an article called ‘Al-Shabab, the Veiled Truth’. In this article I mentioned that the cities that were managed by the Shabab resulted in death caused by starvation and malnutrition. This fact is from a reliable source that was living on the grounds of a Shabab controlled region. Conditions are only worsening in the horn of Africa as the crisis wasn’t acknowledged early enough. It has been building for several months however the Transitional Federal government (TFG) was not alarmed about the situation. There was a large loss of life until the United Nations declared it a famine. As of today, there are many international donors, non-profit organizations, and other countries providing aid to Somalia. So far an estimated 431 million has been donated this year. That being said, one would assume that the situation could only get better, but despite the generous donations there is still much more that needs to be done.
 

As many are well aware, Somalia has been raging with civil war for a couple decades. Cities have been taken over by rebel militia and civilians were forced too flee their homes to refugee camps in search of safety. In addition to war, Somalia is also under a weak and corrupt Transitional Federal government and it plays the leading role in the repeated crisis that surrounds Somalia. Alliances such as Inter-Governmental Authority and Development (IGAD), and African Union peacekeeping troops are not enough to restore peace. After Shabab pulls back their soldiers, what they need to do is recruit and train a large number of police force and military that derive from all regions of Somalia in order to construct an effective defense force. Nowadays, the Federal police and military force is solely made up of soldiers who originated from Mogadishu. It is against the Transitional Federal Charter not to have an inclusive military that does not include soldiers from all 18 regions of Somalia. If this is done, it will be an excellent start for the government to regain power in their cities.

A Transitional Federal government has little to no ability to address this misfortune. There are two areas that are heavily controlled by the Al-Shabab, Bakool and lower Shabeel, and coincidently these are the main areas that the famine is unfolding in. It is in Somali culture that the stronger take advantage of the weak. In this case, the armed Al-Shabab militants are taking advantage of the civilians living there.

The rebels are causing a great deal of distress and disaster. They are letting their pride get in the way of accepting help that they are offered by kicking out many western aid organizations. It is evident that they need this help but they see some of these people as threats. They want no part of western culture around them. Al-Shabab controlled regions do not allow the people living there to flee the city; in fact they’ve set up cantonment camps for those who have tried to escape. These camps hold several thousand of people who are given barely any food. They have even gone as far as blocking rivers from starving villages and directing them to farms that pay them taxes. Local agencies set up to provide aid are not reliable as the money is spent on weapons and the food is given to the soldiers. Other agencies and even civilians are robbed at gun point for what ever they have. It is crucial that the food supply is provided to those who need it most.

The fact that Somalia has been a red flagged zone for years does not help the situation. It is considered to be the most dangerous place in the world. In past years, it’s claimed the lives of many innocent Somalis, foreign peacekeepers, American soldiers, and aid workers. The battle in 1993, “Black Hawk Down”, has scared of many international sponsors, thus causing there to be less aid in the areas that are going through the most hardship. The only hope for the civilians living in Shabab controlled regions is that the rebel militants are removed from these cities as done in Mogadishu. Food aid and donations alone will not be effective in the long term. If it truly is in our interest to eradicate Somalia of piracy, the state of anarchy, terrorism, and starvation, we must establish political loyalty throughout the country in order to build a stable and functioning government and maintain long lasting peace.

Mohamud Shalab

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