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NORTHERN IRAQ: ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERAL THOUSAND DISPLACED PEOPLE: Last week ICRC delegates completed a major distribution of winter relief supplies for several thousand of the most vulnerable displaced persons in northern Iraq.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: ICRC OPENS AN OFFICE IN KALEMIE: On 28 January an ICRC team conducted a survey of the humanitarian situation in Kalemie, on Lake Tanganyika, an eastern area of the country partly controlled by the opposition movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy.
PAKISTAN: RED CROSS MESSAGE CIRCLES THE GLOBE TO REACH DESTINATION: After being approached by an Afghan family in September 1998, the Australian Red Cross contacted the ICRC in Geneva with a Red Cross message containing the following request: "Please try to forward this message to Mr Naw Roz Ali, a victim of the Afghan conflict. His family has been looking for him for seven years; last known address Kabul".
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NORTHERN IRAQ ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERAL THOUSAND DISPLACED PEOPLE
Last week ICRC delegates completed a major distribution of winter relief supplies for several thousand of the most vulnerable displaced persons in northern Iraq. An estimated 120,000 people have been driven from their homes by the fighting there in recent years.
As the displaced live in tents or in open, unheated public buildings, conditions are harsh during the winter months when temperatures can drop below zero. In cooperation with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society and the local administration, the ICRC provided blankets, carpets and heaters to protect them from the cold. More than 11,000 children aged 6 to 12 received warm jackets.
The situation in the area remains difficult for many of the displaced, and the need for humanitarian aid is still acute six months after the September peace agreement between the two main Kurdish parties was signed in Washington D.C.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2307
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ICRC OPENS AN OFFICE IN KALEMIE
On 28 January an ICRC team conducted a survey of the humanitarian situation in Kalemie, on Lake Tanganyika, an eastern area of the country partly controlled by the opposition movement, the Congolese Rally for Democracy. The ICRC decided to open an office there in order to meet the needs of the local population, as supply routes, by both land and water, are regularly cut off and food prices are rising steadily. The problem is compounded by the fact that the hostilities have prevented many farmers from tending their fields.
The survey also revealed the precarious working conditions of the town's medical personnel. A shortage of basic medicines and surgical instruments is hampering consultations and surgical operations, despite the skill and dedication of the staff, and all the sterilizers are out of order.
The inhabitants of Kalemie are isolated from the rest of the country because of insecure road conditions. With the ICRC's help they will be able to re-establish contact with relatives in other parts of the DRC. For example, a number of women and children in Uvira are separated from their families who have remained in Kalemie.
The ICRC is active in other eastern towns as well, with mobile teams, based in Goma and Bukavu, covering Uvira, Kisangani, Kindu and Bunia. It is providing medical aid, distributing food and other supplies, visiting detainees, organizing the exchange of family messages between separated relatives and arranging for children to be reunited with their families. Eight expatriates and 130 locally recruited personnel are currently working in the area partly controlled by the Congolese Rally for Democracy.
The ICRC is also present in the rest of the country, with a staff of about 15 expatriates and 550 local personnel. It visited over 3,000 detainees in 1998, and continues to provide medical assistance, food and non-food aid to those in need. It is actively engaged in raising awareness of international humanitarian law, and works in close cooperation with the National Red Cross Society.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2281
PAKISTAN RED CROSS MESSAGE CIRCLES THE GLOBE TO REACH DESTINATION
After being approached by an Afghan family in September 1998, the Australian Red Cross contacted the ICRC in Geneva with a Red Cross message containing the following request: "Please try to forward this message to Mr Naw Roz Ali, a victim of the Afghan conflict. His family has been looking for him for seven years; last known address Kabul". The ICRC forwarded the message from Geneva to its delegation in Kabul, but no trace was found of MrAli, so it was returned to Australia.
In January 1999 the Australian Red Cross told the ICRC that it was now thought Mr Ali could be in Pakistan. The Red Cross message was sent from Geneva to the ICRC sub-delegation in Peshawar, near the Afghan border. The family had given the address in Peshawar of a man who might know the whereabouts of Mr Ali. Yaqub Ali, one of the ICRC's local employees in the town, went to the address, which was in a business district largely inhabited by Afghan refugees. "Yes", he was told, "Naw Roz Ali is in the next room. But he's not well, so be careful". For this reason, Yaqub gently prepared the old man by taking him out of the shop where he was working. Naw Roz Ali told how his life had been wrecked by the fighting and bombing in Kabul. In 1992 his neighbourhood had been shelled and the residents had fled in panic. When he returned, he had found his house destroyed and his family gone. Yaqub made sure that Naw Roz was strong enough to be given word of his family, whether good or bad. They spoke a little more, then Yaqub handed over the Red Cross message. "Your son wrote this letter. Your family is well."
"At first", says Yaqub, "the old man said nothing but stared at his son's signature with tears in his eyes. Then he read that his wife and children had fled the war in Kabul and taken refuge in Pakistan. They had then spent five years in India before leaving for Australia. The message ended with the words: 'If this reaches you, make sure you tell us how you are. My mother and I will know no peace until you do'".
Later that day, using the telephone number given in the message, the old man called his family in Australia.
Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++873 761 242 260 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224
During the weekend of 6 - 7 February 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Corinne Adam, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80