Médecins Sans
Frontières has appealed to authorities and people in Somalia to ensure
the safe release of two of its workers, who were abducted in October.
Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut,
both Spanish nationals, were abducted while providing emergency aid to Somalis
in the Dadaab refugee camp. The camp, considered the largest of its kind, is
located in northern Kenya near the border with Somalia.
In early December, MSF said they had
received reports that two foreign women fitting the description of Serra and
Thiebaut were seen in the Afgoye district in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle
region.
The humanitarian agency is “reviewing
its ability” to continue its work in Somalia in light of the abduction and
recent shooting that killed two other MSF staff members, Phillipe Havet and
Andrias Karel Keiluhuo, in Mogadishu.
“To effectively continue our medical
humanitarian work for populations affected by violence in Somalia, MSF needs
all parties to the conflict, the leadership as well as the people of Somalia,
to support us in this work and help ensure the safety and security of
humanitarian workers,” Dr. Unni Karunakara, international president of MSF,
said in a Jan. 7 press release. “For our colleagues Philippe and Kace, this
failed tragically. For Blanca and Mone, the leadership and people of Somalia
have the responsibility to facilitate the safe and prompt resolution of their
abduction.”
MSF has been operating in Somalia
since 1991, helping Somalis from all sides of conflict. It says it has assisted
225,000 patients, vaccinated 110,000 children and attended to 30,000
malnourished children in the troubled African country over the past six months.
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