UN EXPERT URGES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO REMEMBER TSUNAMI-AFFECTED SOMALIA

24 January 2005


The United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Dr. Ghanim Alnajjar, issued the following statement today:


The United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia, Dr. Ghanim Alnajjar, expresses his condolences and support to those in South Asia as well as the Eastern Coast of Africa affected by the earthquake-triggered tsunami of 26 December 2004.

"I am immensely saddened by the huge death toll and I am shocked by the scale and reach of the devastation that has affected thousands in Asia and Africa forcing them into homelessness or surviving in inadequate and insecure living conditions," says Dr Alnajjar.

The Independent Expert commends donor governments, international humanitarian aid agencies and national non-governmental organizations on their generous response and immediate action to help those affected by the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami.

He also urges the international community to remember those affected by the tsunami in the Puntland region of north-east Somalia where more than 150 people were killed and about 50,000 people have been displaced.

While some emergency supplies have been distributed to hundreds of families affected by the tsunami in Somalia, the Independent Expert fears that Somali victims of the devastating tsunami may be in danger of being forgotten by the international community.

The Independent Expert notes that at this crucial time, when Somalia is working on reconciliation and reconstruction, the international community must, more than ever, support the fledging Transitional Federal Government, which has set up a special commission to co-ordinate Somali relief.


* *** *