From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Sep 10 2011 - 05:41:26 EDT
Horn of Africa Leaders Address Security Concerns at Drought Summit
Gabe Joselow | Nairobi
* September 10, 2011
Leaders attending a Horn of Africa Crisis summit in Nairobi Friday expressed
deep concern about the drought crisis in the region and instability in
Somalia. East African leaders paid particular attention to the security
concerns posed by an influx of refugees.
A declaration was issued at the end of a summit at U.N. headquarters in
Nairobi, noting the drought and famine crisis poses serious threats to all
countries in the region.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, whose country hosted the summit, noted that
Kenya is already accommodating hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees at
the Dadaab refugee camps.
The massive influx of people escaping the ravages of famine also present
serious security challenges, Kibaki said.
"With the large number of people arriving at the camps on a daily basis it
has become more difficult to control the smuggling of small arms and light
weapons into the neighboring countries."
The declaration also calls for the United Nations and the international
community to consider enhancing the mandate of AMISOM, the African Union
force in Somalia, from that of a peacekeeping mission to one of peacekeeping
enforcement.
The statement did not specify what that change would entail.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi called for more support for forces
that are supporting Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, or TFG, in
areas previously beyond their control.
"We need urgently to support the TFG, AMISOM and other forces to create
corridors of humanitrarian assistance in the liberated areas and beyond,"
President Meles said. "This will reduce refugee outflows and make it
possible to assist populations inside Somalia inside their own home areas."
Uganda and Burundi already contribute forces to AMISOM, while Djibouti has
recently announced that it will send a battalion to join the force. Kenya,
on the other hand, has refused to participate in the mission.
AMISOM and the TFG recently drove the al-Qaida linked militant group
al-Shabab out of the capital, Mogadishu, but widespread areas of the country
remain under militant control.
In addition to security concerns, participants at the summit also called
attention to the threat of climate change. They said addressing the
ecological conditions that are creating cycles of drought in the region is
essential to finding a long-term solution to the crisis.
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