The head of the United Nations mission in Côte d’Ivoire, Pierre Schori, on Sunday raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in the west of the restive country where about 14 000 people are at risk of starvation after violent clashes drove out aid agencies from the area.
”It is of great concern to us,” the Swedish United Nations chief told a news conference in the Senegalese capital after a visit to Gambia where about 400 UN civilian staff relocated after the violent anti-UN demonstrations in Côte d’Ivoire last month that left four people dead.
”There are 14 000 people who feel threatened,” Schori said.
”We will do all that we can to ask the government to do something to ensure their protection.”
About 7 000 Liberian refugees and another 7 000 displaced persons from Burkina Faso have sought shelter in camps in the west of Côte d’Ivoire where their welfare has been in the hands of aid agencies.
The aid agencies however closed shop after the attacks in which their offices and warehouses were ransacked by rampaging youths during the four-day protests that began on January 16.
Given the grave situation in the west, Schori said that UN aid co-ordinator Jan Egeland would visit Côte d’Ivoire soon to assess the humanitarian conditions.
At the same time, the UN is awaiting a report from a team that was in Côte d’Ivoire last week to evaluate the security situation in the west.
UN property was attacked by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo to protest a recommendation from an international group overseeing the country’s peace process, who called for Parliament to stand down as its official term had ended.
The Parliament is dominated by lawmakers loyal to Gbagbo.
Schori said the UN is stepping up its security in Côte d’Ivoire, ahead of a Security Council decision on whether to impose sanctions for the anti-UN violence.
Some troops are expected to be redeployed from neighbouring Liberia, where the UN has a 17 772-strong force, he said.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last week warned that any form of violence in Côte d’Ivoire would not be tolerated.
”We hope that the secretary general’s message was clear to the leaders that encouraging and maintaining violence is very serious… but I believe that the situation will change,” said Schori.
There are about 7 000 UN forces in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI), as well as a 4 000-strong contingent of French troops in the former colony. – Sapa-AFP