UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
SIERRA LEONE: Humanitarian situation report, 98.02.17

SIERRA LEONE: Humanitarian situation report, 98.02.17


HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT FOR SIERRA LEONE

21ST JANUARY - 12TH FEBRUARY, 1998

>From the Office of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator

Security

1. On 7th February ECOMOG launched a sustained campaign to drive the
AFRC from power In Freetown in response to an attack by the junta on ECOMOG's positions at Jui the previous evening. ECOMOG rnade significant advances during the next five days and was able to gain control of strategically-important locations such as Leicester Peak and Fourah Bay College (which are located on a hill overlooking Freetown ), the ferry terminal in Kissy and Waterloo. ECOMOG has also secured all vehicular routes into Freetown effectively isolating the Freetown peninsula from the rest of the country. On 12th February the ECOMOG advance reached the centre of Freetown where they rnanaged to gain control of State House. AFRC casualties are knows to be high and many civilians have been killed and injured. The AFRC has reportedly armed youth groups and demobilised child soldiers In Freetown. Junta soldiers have also embarked on a systematic looting spree commandeering ammunition sites, supplies and vehicles. At least 20 vehicles are known to have been stolen since 7th February from UN agencies, NGOs and the ICRC. This has seriously reduced the capacity of these agencies to provide emergency-related services.

2. The safety of civilians in Freetown has been severely compromised by the recent escalation In the fighting, which has involved the heavy use of mortars, rockets and aerial bombardment. Many houses have been severely damaged and many have caught fire from shelling. ACF reported that the explosion of a bomb near its feeding centre in Kissv resulted in a mother and a child being killed and 10 civilians being injured. MSF has expressed public concern over the detonaton of 3.shells in the vicinity of the Connaught hospital on 11 th February. On 10th February the UN Secretary-General said in a press statement: I am concerned at reports that heavy shelling in Freetown is posing severe risks for the safety of civilians, and that some staff of humanitarian organisations have been prevented from evacuating. I call on both sides urgently to spare civilians and to ensure the protection of humanitarian personnel.

3. Although heavy fighting has occurred near Bo and Kenema, 'the towns themselves remain under AFRC control. The AFRC can regularly been firing mortars into likely Kamajor camps and concentration points. Widespread looting has been reported in Kenema and Bo towns as the AFRC have commandeered vehicles and food and other supplies from relief agency. In Makeni, which remains under AFRC control, vehicles have also been abducted causing relief agencies in this area to retreat to Kambia.

Humanitarian Developments

4. There is no doubt that the recent escalation in hostilities in Sierra Leone will have a serious humanitarian impact on the civilian population which is already suffering due to the serious food situation and inadequate health facilities. The rising numbers of internally displaced and malnourished children are particularly vulnerable. The plight of the civilian population in the centre of Freetown is extremely tenuous. Not only are these people effectively isolated from the rest of Sierra Leone but they are also unable to benefit from the services of Freetown-based humanitarian community whose operations have temporarily cessed due to the theft of vehicles equipment and the deterioration in the security environment.

5. Some pockets of civilians in Freetown who are at particular risk have been identified. These include: approximately 3,000 civilians in ICRC's compound in the centre of Freetown; some 5,000 civilians who fled fighting in the Eastern part of Freetown and who are now gathered in the national stadium in the centre of town; approximately 200 war-wounded who have been admitted to the Connaught hospital since 10th February. 70 bodies have also been brought to the hospital.

6. Some civilians have successfully managed to escape from the Western area into other parts of Sierra Leone. UNICEF reported that 3,700 displaced have arrived in Rokpur in Kambia town exceed 10,000 but no registration has been made. It has been reported that 2,700 Sierra Leoneans refugees have arrived in Conakry by Boat from Freetown in the past five days (check) although some are believed to have drowned on route. The majority of these refugees have been given assistance by UNHCR although others have been removed by the Guinean authorities for questioning due to suspected affiliations with the AFRC.

7. There is little current information available on the humanitarian situation in the South and the East although it is believed to be acute due to the blockades effectively being imposed by the Kamajors around the towns of Bo and Kenema. It is known that 6,000 displaced moved into Kenema during the week prior to the ECOMOG offensive due to ongoing fighting in the diamondiferous area in Tongo Field. MSF's most recent report on the districts of Bo, Pujehun, Bonthe and none in Moyamba districts , dated January 1998, expressed serious concern over the deteriorating health and nutritional situation. A minimal number of peripheral health units were still functioning at that time: 3 in Bo town, 5 in Pujehun, 2 in Bonthe and none in Moyamba. In Bo hospital the case fatality rate remained extremely high, particularly for children, with 87.9% of children dying within the first 48 hours of admission. The current lack of access to humanitarian services will only exacerbate this dire situation.

8. UN agencies have developed modalities for an effective emergency response subject to security constraints. These are being consolidated into a comprehensive action plan which will be implemented as soon as possible.

9. In a communique issued following the most recent rneeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Five Foreign Ministers, which took place from 5th-6th February, the day before the ECOMOG offensive, the Ministers' noted with concern the plight of refugees, their impact on neighbouring countries and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone." The Ministers also 'called upon the junta to cooperate with ECOWAS in the implementation of the ECOWAS Peace Plan so that humanitarian corridors could be established to facilitate the delivery of relief materials to the people of Sierra Leone.'

10.In the UN Secretary-General's recent statement on Sierra Leone he requested that humanitarian agencies should be given unimpeded access by parties to the conflict to enable them to carry out their work. ' United Nations agencies and non-gouvernmental organisations are ready to expand the delivery of humanitarian assistance. It is therefore of paramount importance that all parties facilitate the free access of humanitarian organisations and goods as a matter of life-saving urgency.'

11. At a recent meeting between the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the ECOWAS Executive Secretary, the latter confirmed that ECOWAS was willing to deploy two monitors to Parmalap to supervise the inspection of humanitarian cargoes by Guinean troops. Deployment of ECOWAS monitors to Parmalap is apparently the final obstacle to the commencement of the cross-border relief operation. UN agencies have agreed to fund the per diem of these monitors and UNOCHA will make available to the monitors a suitable vehicle, with radio communication equipment and driver.

12. On 5th February, 1998 an interagency mission arrived in Conakry to assess the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone and to recommend practical steps to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone and the monitoring of the humanitarian impact of the UN sanctions and the ECOWAS embargo. Under the overall leadership of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA), the mission also comprised representatives from UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO, WFP and the UN office of the Special Envoy for Sierra Leone. Although the mission was unable to travel to Sierra Leone due to the recent deterioration in the security situation, the mission was able to produce a report ( on 10th February ) based on extensive consultations in Conakry with the Guinean Government, President Kabbah, UN agencies, ICRC and NGOs.

13. The report concludes that Sierra Leone will face a large scale food crisis without rapid intervention by humanitarian organisations in the coming months. The extreme vulnerability of certain groups in certain areas have created additional humanitarian needs in terms of food assistance and health care services .The report states that UN agencies and NGOs have faced rnajor difficulties in attempting to respond to these needs under the ECOWAS embargo.

14. The mission's report recommends that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs draw the attention at the Security Council to the gravity of the situation in Sierra Leone and request its intervention to facilitate the importation, the transit, and the cross-border shipment of humanitarian requirements under the UN sanctions and the ECOWAS embargo. It also suggested that UN agencies should review their action plan to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the light of recant developments while ensuring that their assistance adequately responds to the situation and is safely delivered to the people in need. Lastly, it is recommended that the USG for Humanitarian Affairs should underline the importance of preserving impartial access to the civilian population for the purpose of the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

15. From 31st January-3rd February a UN security assessment mission, which also included representatives from UNICEF, WFP, the Office of the UN Special Envoy and UNOCHA was conducted in Makeni, Kabala and Magburaka. The mission concluded that these areas and their immediate environs provided sufficiently secure conditions for UN international staff to remain there on extended mission. This conclusion is reflected in the reduction in the UN security rating from Phase 5 to Phase 4.

Food Aid

16. The Committee on Food Aid in Conakry has produced a paper reaffirming
its position vis-a-vis the provision of food aid into Sierra Leone. The paper is summarised as follows:

a) Although some food stocks were looted immediately after the coup (predominantly in the Freetown area), food agencies did successfully deliver 14,000 tonnes of food between May and December 1997 to the most vulnerable from in-country stocks. The amount distributed met approximatively 40% of projected needs was the inability to gain the necessary authorisation to start the cross-border operation.

b) The recent harvest in Sierra Leone was good ( FAO estimates an increase
of 1 5 % on the previous year ) due to a large extent to the NGO agricultural input programmes which continued after the coup. However, the marketing of the harvest was hampered by several factors : the embargo on fuel ; the decision by some local leaders to restrict the movement of rice out of their chiefdoms; and poor security in many areas which encouraged hoarding and resulted in the looting of the harvest by elements.

c) Commercial food imports, especially rice, were significantly reduced due to the ECOWAS embargo leading to price increase as much as 400%, well beyond the purchasing power of the majority of the civilian population. The consumption and/or sale of seed rice by farmers constitutes a threat to the next harvest. Food aid is required to prevent this and to support the continuation of agricultural recovery.

d) In order to proposition food aid stocks as close as possible to Sierra Leone food supply agencies brought approximately 15,000 metric tonnes to Conakry, Guinea where it was stored in preparation for the cross-border operation. The scheduled start of the cross-border operation in November 1997 was delayed, ostensibly due to the lack of an inspection mechanism at Parmalap, the border town between Guinea and Sierra Leone.

e) The Committee on Food Aid estimates that about 5,000 metric tonnes of
food aid are required monthly to address immediate, urgent needs. It proposes a strategy to transfer food across the border in quantities that will not result in large-scale storage in Sierra Leone in order to reduce the risk of misappropriation,

The Committee on Food Aid makes the following recommendations:

- Immediate implementation of the provisions of Security Council Resolution - 113.2 regarding the facilitation of the flow of humanitarian assistance. This includes expedition of clearance procedures at the port of Conakry, rapid processing of transit or re-export documentation and full concentration in the movement of food aid to sierra Leone via Pamalap.

Dissemination of an adherence to the Humanitarian Code of Conduct by all parties. - Authorisation, where necessary, to food aid agencies to establish contacts with the different armed elements to ensure speedy, effective, targeted and neutral assistance to all vulnerable groups. - Guaranteed free passage within Sierra Leone for food aid. - Facilitation of humanitarian assistance learns to assess needs, control stocks and monitor distribution.

[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-extra]

-- Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 15:32:11 +0000 (GMT) Subject: SIERRA LEONE: Humanitarian situation report, 98.02.17 (fwd) Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980217152648.1585A-p://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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