Sierra Leone - UNHC: 21.Jan-12.Feb.98
Sierra Leone - UNHC: 21.Jan-12.Feb.98
Sierra Leone
21 January - 12 February 1998
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.
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