| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT FOR SIERRA LEONE 23RD MAY - 8TH JUNE, 1998
Security
1. The security situation has continued to deteriorate
as RUF / AFRC expands its presence throughout the North
of Sierra Leone. Rebel attacks are now taking place
as far west as Rogberi Junction, located between Port
Loko and Lunsar towns and there has been rebel movement
reported to the South of Kukuna in Kambia district.
In other parts of the North, rebels continue to attack
and burn villages and inflict atrocities an innocent
civilians. On 23rd May the RUF inflicted its most
significant defeat on ECOMOG since the return of the
democratically-elected Government when a group of about
150 rebels launched a well-coordinated attack on Fadugu,
an
ECOMOG-held village to the South of Kabala in Koinadugu
district. ECOMOG were put to flight and sustained some
casualties after which the rebels laid waste to the
village. Ongoing insecurity is clearly having a negative
impact on the ability of humanitarian agencies to access
populations at risk.
2. One of ECOMOG's major constraints thus far has been a lack of logistical capacity. In an attempt to address this issue the USA has provided ECOMOG with the logistics and communication services of PAE, valued at US$ 4 million.
Humanitarian Developments
3. The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs will visit Sierra Leone 10-13 June, 1998. The purpose of the mission is to assess the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone and to draw the attention of the local and international community to outstanding areas of concern.
4. On 3rd June an interagency mission comprising the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and representatives from NCRRR, UNICEF, WFP, UN-HACU, the Field Security Officer and Christian Extension Services conducted a rapid assessment of Koidu town in Kono district. This was the first time that the humanitarian community has visited Koidu since the ECOMOG intervention. The mission observed that Koidu town was completely destroyed and that security was tenuous.
The mission was unanimous in its conclusion that Koidu town was facing a serious humanitarian emergency, the scale of which was far more severe than any other area of Sierra Leone assessed since the return of the democratically-elected Government to power. The civilian population was clearly in distress. A large proportion of the children in the town were displaying visible signs of malnutrition and numerous individuals were afflicted with skin diseases associated with prolonged hiding in the bush. Medical facilities were non-existent with the exception of occasional treatment by ECOMOG or local doctors. Water and sanitation facilities were observed to be poor.
5. Local residents reported an influx of 38,000 displaced into Koidu town. While the mission was in no position to verify this figure, physical crowding of the urban environment was evident. Most houses contained 8-12 adults with children although some interviewees reported figures as high as 20 adults with children per household. Most of the shelters required roofing materials which is a cause of concern in light of the impending rainy season.
6. There are clearly immediate life-threatening circumstances in Koidu which must be immediately addressed to improve the condition of the civilian population. However, as Koidu is clearly in the war zone care must be taken to ensure that the delivery of humanitarian assistance does not contribute to the dynamics of the conflict. Discussions are currently ongoing within the humanitarian community to prepare a joint strategy to address the current situation in Koidu in the most effective manner.
7. During the period under review MSF and ICRC have conducted several one-day assessments by helicopter in the North-East of Sierra Leone. Areas visited include Alikalia and Kabala in Koinadugu district, Njaiama-Sewafe in Kono district and Masingbi in the East of Tonkolili district. These locations were chosen due to prior reports of an influx of war-wounded into these areas and the assessments focused primarily on providing assistance to these target groups. As a result, small quantities of dressings and medical supplies were delivered and small numbers of war-wounded were evacuated to Freetown. The most significant finding to emerge from these assessments is that access to healthcare remains a serious issue for many civilians living in the North-East. It is estimated that 20 % of war-wounded are able to find their way to safety and that the majority remain in the bush for security reasons.
8. United Nations agencies are in the process of preparing a Consolidated Interagency Appeal for humanitarian assistance to Sierra Leone to cover the period from 1 March - 31 December, 1998. The document attempts to illustrate the following: the impact of humanitarian interventions during the period of the Flash Appeal ( ie. March through May 1998 ), the impact of those activities planned and not implemented, the impact of those activities undertaken outside the framework of the Flash Appeal and planned activities for the June-December period covered by the new Appeal. The document also outlines changes in the humanitarian climate during the past three months. In this regard it highlights the precarious humanitarian plight of civilians in the North and the North-East in the wake of the ECOMOG offensive in these areas resulting in the exodus of over 150,000 refugees in Guinea and Liberia and extensive internal displacement.
Food Aid
9. Relief trucks are now being commandeered by ECOMOG and the Civil Defence Force in Kambia and Makeni as well as in Bo and Kenema districts despite verbal assurances from the ECOMOG Force Commander and the Deputy Minister of Defence ( and de facto head of the CDF ) that such activities would cease. Commandeering of vehicles has hampered agencies' ability to deliver relief supplies as many transporters are reluctant to move around much of the country.
10. The Committee on Food Aid ( CFA ) has approved a joint Food for Agriculture strategy to guide agricultural interventions in 1998. The policy states that Food for Agriculture may be provided as a complement to inputs of seeds and tools to identified farm families and that farm families should normally not receive assistance for more than one planting season. Given the deterioration of security in the North during the past few months Food for Agriculture may be authorised on an exceptional basis to farmers who received inputs during 1997 but subsequently lost them through looting and destruction.
Health
11. The influx of war-wounded into Connaught hospital in Freetown and the Government Hospital in Makeni continues to rise. In an effort to alleviate overcrowding at Connaught hospital ICRC has rented a private hospital to cope with a potential influx in the future. Several amputees have also been relocated to the clinic at Waterloo refugee camp on the outskirts of Freetown. Health facilities in Magburaka and Port Loko are being rehabilitated in a bid to alleviate the pressure on the overcrowded hospitals in Freetown.
12. The British Medical Research Council has reactivated five health centres to the North of Bo a process which has been supported by UNICEF through the consignment of drugs and surgical equipment. The second phase of the UNICEF-supported mass immunisation campaign in the Western Area is underway. The programme targets 100,000 children under the age of five and 50,000 women of child bearing age. Arrangements for similar campaigns in Bo and Kenema have been finalised.
Child Protection
13. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict visited Sierra Leone from 26-29th May, 1998 to assess the needs of children affected by conflict. The Special Representative managed to extract several commitments from the Government, ECOMOG and the Civil Defence Force as follows:
- The Civil Defence Force would stop recruiting and initiating children under the age of 18 and would begin the process of demobilising child combatants within their ranks.
- ECOMOG and the kamajors agreed to provide special protection to AFRC/RUF child combatants who come into their custody through surrender, capture or escape.
- In creating a new national army the Government agreed that children under the age of 18 would not be recruited and that the UN would help with the provision of training material on respect for civilians, particularly women and children.
- Parliamentarians agreed to create a caucus advocating the rights of children.
- It was agreed that a Joint Task Force be constituted, comprising representatives from ECOMOG, Civil Defence Force, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs and international humanitarian agencies to establish and oversee a procedure for the demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants.
14. The Child Protection committee, which comprises representatives from Government, UN agencies and NGOs, has coordinated the registration of 52 children associated with the fighting forces and 130 unaccompanied children in Daru and Segbwema in the East of Sierra Leone following recent assessment missions to this area. The children will continue to stay with foster parents until their families are traced. The registration team noted that though the number of unaccompanied children was not alarming, a large number of children were living with vulnerable families.
Refugees
15. UNHCR has launched a Flash Appeal for US$ 7.3 million to meet the immediate protection and emergency needs of 255,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea and Liberia from March to December 1998. Since the start of the ECOMOG offensive in the East of Sierra Leone in March 1998, 182,000 new Sierra Leonean arrivals have been registered in Guinea and 55,000 in Liberia bringing the total caseload to 530,000 in these two countries. Although the influx of refugees into Liberia has ceased, the influx into Eastern Guinea continues with the result that UNHCR has added an additional 18,000 to the current caseload for planning purposes.
16. UNHCR raises several issues related to protection in the Appeal. In Guinea, refugees presumed to be AFRC/RUF combatants are arrested and taken to Conakry without UNHCR being given the opportunity to access these refugees to determine whether they should be excluded from UNHCR's mandate. In Liberia there are reports of 2,000 former AFRC / RUF combatants among the Sierra Leonean refugees arriving in Vahun. This is a source of concern as it is important that military elements are separated from the refugees to maintain the civilian character of refugee sites. UNHCR is currently in discussions with ECOMOG and the Government of Liberia over the involvement of ECOMOG in the physical separation of former combatants from the civilian refugee population.
17. The proximity of Vahun to areas of Sierra Leone still under AFRC / RUF control is another security concern to UNHCR. It is important to relocate these Sierra Leoneans to other areas before the onset of the rainy season, which will make transportation virtually impossible. However, the proposed relocation exercise is subject to two major constraints: first, UNHCR's truck fleet in the region is overstretched on account of the ongoing repatriation of Liberian refugees; second, many refugees in Vahun are reluctant to move away from the border due to ethnic affinity with the local population.
Freetown, 9 June 16:30 gmt
[ends]
[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: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 10:45:47 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Sierra Leone HACU situation report 23 May-8 June 1998 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980611104145.16151B-p://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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