UN: Rape, prostitution on the rise in Somalia

Geneva - The United Nations' refugee agency on Tuesday warned of 'widespread rape' and a rise in prostitution in Somalia as the Horn of Africa country sinks deeper into chaos. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman in Geneva, William Spindler, said 'serious atrocities' were being carried out by parties to the conflict. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes in 'some of the heaviest and bloodiest street battles' in the capital Mogadishu since the latest outbreak of government forces and opposition Islamist groups in early May, he said. 'Women are selling their bodies to get out of Mogadishu,' Roberta Russo of the UNHCR's Somalia team told the German Press Agency dpa in a telephone interview from Kenya. Testimonies collected by the agency indicate that many people are unable to flee, as they cannot afford the bus fair out of the capital. Russo noted the case of one woman, aged 23, who said she had become a prostitute to gather enough money to reach the coast. There, she would continue to charge for sex, in order to later pay to be smuggled Yemen. 'This is not an isolated case,' said Russo. Earlier this year, Shamsul Bari, the UN's expert on Somalia said its inhabitants 'suffer one of the most precarious existences I have witnessed.' The UNHCR said it was 'gravely concerned about the violence and the fact that it is further aggravating an already desperate humanitarian situation.' Last week, the agency said nearly 100,000 people had fled the war-torn capital. 'There is clearly very little regard for the safety of civilians in Somalia,' said Spindler. He noted hostage takings and the shelling of civilians areas. 'The situation is getting worse and worse,' he added, noting that aid agencies were having more trouble gaining access to civilians than in the past. Some 36,000 people are estimated to be trapped in areas of heavy fighting in Mogadishu. Reports indicate that people remain for days without food or water, as the conflict continues around them, according to the UNHCR. The International Committee of the Red Cross said last month it saw 'sharp deterioration' in the humanitarian situation in Somalia, which has been fraught with conflict since the early 1990s.

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Sophia TesfamariamJun 12th, 2009 - 12:12:00

The Islamphobic Washington plutocracy has set its eyes on Somalia...It is sad to see the country torn apart for no other reason than to plunder and pillage. Somalia and its people have never been a threat to Ethiopia or any other nation in the Horn, least of all the United States. Somalia is not a terrorist haven, that has been the pretext for the intervention in Somalia from the get go.

The Somali people are not insurgents and the puppet TNG installed is not one of their own choosing. They are forced to defend their nation and their resources and no amount of propaganda by the Washington plutocracy and their hired guns will change that fact. The wishes and aspirations of the Somali people cannot be extinguished by gun fire. Killing Somalis and labeling them 'extremists', 'fundamentalists' etc. is not going to absolve anyone of the genocide in Somalia.

The US-backed Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia in 24 December 2006 has caused the greatest humanitarian emergency in the history of Somalia. Over a million have been displaced, over 17,000 massacred in cold blood and thousands more have been injured and abused and international crimes are committed in that country with impunity.

Under the watchful eyes of the UN Security Council and the inept and corrupt regional organizations in the region, the Organization for African Disunity and the Intergovernmental Authority for the Destruction of the region, Somalia is being systematically dismembered and weakened.

As for the mercenary Somali elite, their historical betrayal of the people of Somalia will never be forgotten. History and the people of Somalia, wherever they end up, will judge them harshly for every drop of Somali blood shed, for every tear shed by a Somali child in agony, for every orphan left homeless and alone, every rape victim, and every displaced man, woman and child who are suffering today because of their greed and cowardice!

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PurenessJul 28th, 2009 - 10:11:08

I am sorry hearing such exaggeration I can say somali woman are the purest comparing throughout the world. Take for grant the different dirty wep sites show varieties of ugly events that I can say they are the worst in this universal we live so I advise with anyone of you to look into deeply whatever you are writing on this wep page so as not to meet serious consequence. By shakir.

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