Humanitarian crisis hits Ethiopia
Guardian Unlimited, UK - September 4, 2007
A humanitarian crisis has developed in Ethiopia's remote Ogaden region, where government forces are trying to quell a rebel insurgency, according to a leading international aid agencyMédecins Sans Frontières said 400,000 people, including thousands forcibly displaced when their villages were burned down, had little or no access to medicine due to a government-installed blockade.
MSF said that following an exploratory mission to Ogaden in July which revealed a "deeply precarious situation", repeated requests to work in the worst hit areas have been denied by both regional authorities and the government in Addis Abada.
"We were told that we could only begin work once 'operations' were finished," said Loris De Filippi, Ethiopia coordinator for MSF. "We said that humanitarian aid is not about putting flowers on graves, but they just ignored us" ...