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POLITICS: Relief Workers in War Zones Under Increasing Attack

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 8 2003 (IPS) - The United Nations is worried that international humanitarian workers deployed in war zones are being increasingly targeted for attacks both by government forces and armed rebel groups.

The abductions and killings are taking place in Iraq, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire and the Israeli occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

"Safeguarding the security of humanitarian personnel remains a pivotal challenge to the United Nations and its humanitarian partners," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released Tuesday.

Despite the strengthening of the U.N. security management system and the increased partnerships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), he said, "little can be done when humanitarian personnel are sought out and specifically targeted by belligerents".

The past year has witnessed a number of tragic losses of humanitarian staff, most notably in Liberia, with the murder of three relief workers and the disappearance of almost 200 U.N. and non-governmental staff members, of whom half remain unaccounted for, Annan said.

In Cote d’Ivoire, four Red Cross volunteer workers were murdered this year while humanitarian workers have been abducted in Chechnya and several others killed in the Israeli-occupied territories.

There have also been tragic incidents involving relief workers in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan.

"These tragedies serve to illustrate the precariousness of the security environment often encountered by humanitarian staff and the dangers inherent in providing humanitarian assistance during conflict," Annan said.

Last month two U.N. military observers were abducted, tortured and killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

U.N. deputy spokesman Hua Jiang told reporters last week that the security situation in Liberia was so bad that humanitarian workers were unable to assist those in need.

Before fighting erupted around the capital of Monrovia in early June, relief workers had access to barely 30 percent of Liberia.

"With the recent fighting in Monrovia, humanitarian workers are increasingly unable to assist even those in need in Monrovia," she added. U.N. offices in the Liberian capital have been closed, and local staff have been advised to remain at home.

Ruud Lubbers, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said last week that he was "gravely concerned" over the situation in Liberia.

"Tens of thousands of displaced people have converged on Monrovia, where remaining aid agency staff have struggled to provide assistance amid reports of shelling and gunfire within the city," he said.

The office of the High Commissioner also said that delivery of aid to the needy populations has been "severely hampered" by the massive looting and insecurity that have swept Monrovia.

The warehouses in Monrovia are empty after looters carted away supplies of blankets, jerry cans and plastic sheeting which are usually provided to refugees to cover their shelters.

Over the weekend, in Mosul, southern Iraq, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a compound used by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The attack, which was condemned by the U.S. Special Representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, resulted in injuries to a local security guard and damage to two IOM vehicles.

The U.N. Coordinator for Iraq, Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, told reporters last month that the United Nations also remains "concerned" about the attacks on American and British soldiers because "we may (also) be targeted one day."

Da Silva complained that the "lack of security" has continued to inhibit the work of U.N. humanitarian workers in Iraq.

But this insecurity is also being aggravated by fears that the Iraqis may also turn their anger at the United Nations whose 12-year-old sanctions caused immense suffering to the Iraqis. The sanctions were lifted by the U.N. Security Council only in May. Da Silva said that U.N. workers still faced "severe restrictions" on their movements inside Iraq. "We have parts of the country where U.N. staff cannot operate. I am afraid it is going to remain so for a while."

The United Nations has also suffered heavy casualties in Afghanistan where humanitarian workers – some of them working for de-mining agencies – have been kidnapped and killed by Taliban forces whose government was ousted from power following U.S. military strikes in Oct. 2001.

In his report, Annan has said that governments and rebel groups should provide stronger commitments to the humanitarian community so as to ensure that a climate of impunity does not prevail in such situations – and that those responsible for attacks against humanitarian staff are promptly brought to justice.