In recent weeks hundreds of young men and boys from the Dadaab refugee camps have been secretly recruited for the force, lured with false promises of lavish pay and claims of backing from the United Nations and the United States.
Pirates have put Somalia back on the international agenda, but Somalia's people have yet to receive as much protection as the international tankers off-shore. The brutal, widely ignored conflict in Somalia has crept back into the headlines only after spawning a massive humanitarian crisis and Islamist extremism, as well as piracy. But to deal with these issues, the Obama administration will have to break with failed policies that have helped push Somalia into calamity.
Since early 2007 hundreds of thousands of Somalis, including women and girls, have fled their homes in Mogadishu and other locations in fear of their lives. But Somali women also face the risk of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence at the hands of Ethiopian troops, Somali transitional government forces, and unidentified militias who take advantage of the growing lawlessness.
Refugees who survive the Somali militias and Kenyan police face additional problems when they go to one of three overcrowded and under-serviced refugee camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab.
Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans - remain unknown.
On March 3 two Tomahawk missiles were launched toward Dobley, Somalia in the fourth U.S. airstrike aimed at individuals with Al Qaeda links in Somalia since January 2007. While missing its target, shrapnel from the missiles injured six civilians, a pattern that echoes previous U.S. strikes in Somalia. Such strikes inevitably turn ordinary Somalis against the United States, thereby bolstering support for militant groups, while the human rights and humanitarian crisis that terrorists feed off -- and that U.S. policies exacerbate -- is largely ignored. Additionally, the Ethiopian military offensive that ousted the ruling Islamist authority from Mogadishu and installed a weak but internationally backed transitional government triggered a predictable insurgency by both Islamist militants and ordinary Somalis, with the resulting conflict having led to thousands of civilian deaths and displaced persons. Ultimately, an effective counter-terrorism policy must address the underlying human rights and humanitarian tragedies that are fueling the crisis, as it has become clear that eliminating a few alleged terrorists will not solve these deeper problems.
The two Tomahawk missiles launched toward Dobley were the fourth U.S. airstrike aimed at individuals with Al Qaeda links in Somalia since January 2007.
For most residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, this has been a catastrophic year. The country’s longstanding crisis has moved into a new, chilling cycle of foreign intervention, relentless insurgency and brutal response. People who survived sixteen years of war, statelessness and ruthless warlords are fleeing. Civilians are daily victims of the violence, including mass arrests, targeted killings, indiscriminate bombardment and attacks similar to those common in Iraq – remote-control explosives and suicide bombings – with even
less reporting and international attention.
In recent weeks hundreds of young men and boys from the Dadaab refugee camps have been secretly recruited for the force, lured with false promises of lavish pay and claims of backing from the United Nations and the United States.
Pirates have put Somalia back on the international agenda, but Somalia's people have yet to receive as much protection as the international tankers off-shore. The brutal, widely ignored conflict in Somalia has crept back into the headlines only after spawning a massive humanitarian crisis and Islamist extremism, as well as piracy. But to deal with these issues, the Obama administration will have to break with failed policies that have helped push Somalia into calamity.
Since early 2007 hundreds of thousands of Somalis, including women and girls, have fled their homes in Mogadishu and other locations in fear of their lives. But Somali women also face the risk of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence at the hands of Ethiopian troops, Somali transitional government forces, and unidentified militias who take advantage of the growing lawlessness.
Refugees who survive the Somali militias and Kenyan police face additional problems when they go to one of three overcrowded and under-serviced refugee camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab.
Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans - remain unknown.
On March 3 two Tomahawk missiles were launched toward Dobley, Somalia in the fourth U.S. airstrike aimed at individuals with Al Qaeda links in Somalia since January 2007. While missing its target, shrapnel from the missiles injured six civilians, a pattern that echoes previous U.S. strikes in Somalia. Such strikes inevitably turn ordinary Somalis against the United States, thereby bolstering support for militant groups, while the human rights and humanitarian crisis that terrorists feed off -- and that U.S. policies exacerbate -- is largely ignored. Additionally, the Ethiopian military offensive that ousted the ruling Islamist authority from Mogadishu and installed a weak but internationally backed transitional government triggered a predictable insurgency by both Islamist militants and ordinary Somalis, with the resulting conflict having led to thousands of civilian deaths and displaced persons. Ultimately, an effective counter-terrorism policy must address the underlying human rights and humanitarian tragedies that are fueling the crisis, as it has become clear that eliminating a few alleged terrorists will not solve these deeper problems.
The two Tomahawk missiles launched toward Dobley were the fourth U.S. airstrike aimed at individuals with Al Qaeda links in Somalia since January 2007.
Meles Zenawi thinks the west's attitude to Africa is unbalanced and unfair. But his country is being torn apart by human rights abuses
For most residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, this has been a catastrophic year. The country’s longstanding crisis has moved into a new, chilling cycle of foreign intervention, relentless insurgency and brutal response. People who survived sixteen years of war, statelessness and ruthless warlords are fleeing. Civilians are daily victims of the violence, including mass arrests, targeted killings, indiscriminate bombardment and attacks similar to those common in Iraq – remote-control explosives and suicide bombings – with even
less reporting and international attention.
While the west agonises over Darfur, another humanitarian and human rights disaster is brewing in the Horn of Africa.