IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 10 covering the period 6 - 12 March 1999

ANGOLA: Humanitarian situation worsens The UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UCAH) said in its weekly report for the period 5-12 March that it had not seen any improvement in the humanitarian situation during the previous week. UCAH said there had been a number of serious attacks on civilian vehicles transporting passengers and goods on the Benguela-Huambo roads, in an area between Cubal and Ganda and in Luanda-Benguela in the vicinity of Canjala. These attacks had resulted in a number of deaths and injuries as well as the looting and destruction of several trucks. Attacks on towns and villages had also increased the feeling of insecurity among the local populations, leading to further displacements. The town of Caala in the Huambo province was also attacked last week and several civilians were seriously wounded and scores killed. The attackers abducted a number of displaced women and children and stole their food. The hospital was partially destroyed in the attack, although no looting took place. More food aid needed Speaking to journalists in Geneva last week, Francesco Strippoli, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator stated that food aid needs for Angolans for 1999 were now estimated at US $60 million, twice the amount projected in 1998. Strippoli said that an additional US $20 million would also be needed to cover the costs of delivering food by air, as roads were considered too insecure for relief convoys. “The war is going to continue and we are expecting new population displacements,” Strippoli said, adding: “Insufficient aid could lead in months to a new humanitarian catastrophe.” Internally displaced people The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Angola has risen dramatically to 650,000 since fighting resumed in earnest in November. Strippoli said the numbers of IDP’s before November had reached 350,000, but that this had increased to 650,000 since the rebel UNITA movement intensified its attacks on government-held territories. Strippoli said every battle raised the possibility of an increase in the numbers of IDPs as people sought refuge in the main cities away from the war. Most of the IDPs are also malnourished and suffer from diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhoea. Strippoli added that the most affected areas are Malanje, Huambo and Kuito where UNITA has besieged the cities. According to UCAH, the following are the most affected provinces with confirmed new IDPs: Malanje 130,077; Huambo 128,202; Huila 74,492; Benguela 46,653; Moxico 41,199; Bengo 32,419; Bie 36,877; Kwanza Norte 28,611; Uige 24,873. More than 600 dead in Malanje since November Angolan authorities on Saturday said more than 600 people have been killed in Malanje since November. Malanje, situated 400 km east of the capital Luanda, came under renewed long-range artillery fire from Jonas Savimbi’s rebels last week, resulting in five deaths on Friday, according to local officials. Electricity was also cut off last week when the town’s power station was shelled and about 200 houses were destroyed, a journalist with the government daily ‘Jornal de Angola’ said. The town, home to about 400,000 inhabitants, also now contains many displaced people and is faced with food shortages. Relief workers said they have been able to hand out supplies to only 94,000 of the more than 200,000 displaced people who have swelled the town’s population. Crops looted UCAH said it had received reports that crops almost ready for harvest were being looted in several provinces around the country, especially outside the besieged second city of Huambo and Bie in the central highlands. “The local population is in great despair and has expressed serious concern regarding these acts which increase their dependence on food aid and threaten the ability to plant again for the next season due to the lack of seeds,” UCAH said. MOZAMBIQUE: South African assistance to flood victims South Africa said this week it was sending helicopters and other transport aircraft to Mozambique to assist in the relocation of people trapped by floods. A joint statement by the South African Department of Foreign Affairs and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said: “Following the assessment made last week by the Special Task Team of the South African National Defence Force, the South African Government today [Wednesday] decided to assist in the location/relocation of people trapped by the flooding of the Govuro river in the Inhambane district of Mozambique.” A spokesperson for the SANDF told IRIN this week on the first day of the operation about 10.9 mt of food, supplied by WFP had been airlifted to people in the affected areas. He added that these airlifts would continue. He said at this stage there was no need for people to be evacuated, but they were in urgent need of food supplies because most of their crops had been washed away. The spokesperson said a joint operations centre between the SANDF and the Mozambican government had been established at Vilankulo, about 650 km northeast of the capital Maputo. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had been reported that the main road from the town of Beira, about 900 km northeast of Maputo, had almost been totally washed away, making movement by road practically impossible. International aid Meanwhile, WFP said this week it would urgently airlift 350 mt of maize and beans to 70,000 flood victims in southern Mozambique. Most of the victims are from the cities of Vilankulo and Inhassorro, in Inhambane province which has had no access to food and basic health care since last week when the floods began. WFP said the emergency aid was enough to feed people for about 10 days and that it needed about US $125,000 for the airlift operation and had already appealed to donors for funds. In a statement, WFP’s Georgia Shaver said: “It’s virtually impossible to move food overland because all road access into and out of Mozambique’s southern province of Inhambane along the coast is completely cut off from the rest of the country.” Worst flooding in 40 years Mozambique is currently experiencing the worst flooding in 40 years, which has affected about 180,000 people and washed away an estimated 50,000 hectares of crops. Demining update Mozambican Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao told the Mozambican parliament this week that since the start of the demining process in December 1992 and February this year more than 53,624 anti-personnel mines had been destroyed. The PANA news agency quoted Simao as saying that up until the end of 1998, demining operations had cost about US $116 million. In his speech Simao added that to date 7,718 km of roads, 90 km of railway tracks and 10,560 hectares of land had been cleared of mines. NAMIBIA-BOTSWANA: Verdict expected later this year The International Court of Justice in The Hague said last Friday it would announce a verdict on the case of the Kasikili/Sedudu islands dispute before the end of the year. The court said in a statement: “The Court’s judgment will be delivered in the autumn. It will be read at a public hearing on a date to be announced in a forthcoming press release.” The case between Namibia and Botswana which started on 15 February came to an end on Friday. The court had been asked by the two countries to settle a territorial dispute over the boundary of the Kasikili/Sedudu islands and the legal status of the islands, which are situated in the Caprivi Strip on the Chobe river. Namibia and Botswana have both said they would accept the ruling of the international court as being binding. Asylum seekers repatriated Five Namibians who had sought asylum in Botswana on Tuesday were voluntarily repatriated back to the Caprivi Strip after individually applying to UNHCR. “The UNHCR facilitated the return of the five to Namibia from Gaborone by seeing them off at the airport, meeting them at the transit lounge at Johannesburg International airport as well as ensuring their safe return to the Caprivi once inside Namibia,” a UNHCR official told IRIN. MALAWI: Election date postponed The Malawi Electoral Commission said on Wednesday it had postponed the country’s general election from 18 May to the 25 May. PANA quoted the Chief Electoral Officer Stuart Winga as saying the delay was due to logistical problems that had delayed the start of voter registration. Winga said: “There are a lot of things we have to do and it seems we might not be able to beat the 18 May deadline.” Media sources in Malawi told IRIN that a meeting was scheduled for Thursday between representatives of the various political parties and the Electoral Commission to discuss the next phase in the electoral process. Malawi last held an election in 1994, when Bakili Muluzi was elected president. Malawi’s national assembly has 177 members, elected for a five-year term.