On the 29 December 2011 two Médecins Sans Frontières aid workers were shot by unknown gunmen.
Phillipe Havet and Andrias Karel were implementing emergency assistance projects in Mogadishu when the gunmen shot them.
Three months ago, two more Médecins Sans Frontières aid workers, Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut were abducted in Dadaab refugee camp in to the Somali population.
Médecins Sans Frontières, translation Doctors without Borders, confronts the difficult dilemma of working in an environment like Somalia where the needs of the population are extremely great. However, aid workers face risks especially on their safety and security.
Doctors without Borders have had a continuous presence in Somalia since 1991. They have assisted Somalis in need on all sides of ongoing fighting and conflict in the 20 years of civil war that has ravaged the country and left the population extremely vulnerable.
Over the last six months alone, teams have treated 225,000 patients in Somalia, vaccinated 110,000 children and cared for 30, 000 malnourished children in 14 projects. Furthermore, Médecins Sans Frontières provides assistance to Somali refugees in nine projects in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Finding the balance between the colossal medical needs of the Somali population and the risks that the teams are forced to bear is progressively more challenging. As Médecins Sans Frontières considers this difficult dilemma they are asking that all people especially the authorities in control of areas in Somali where Blanca Thiebaut and Montserrat Serra are being held captive to do everything possible to assist their safe return.
Attacks on aid workers must be condemned in the strongest of terms. The attacks put in jeopardy the life-saving medical projects that are already insufficient in addressing the scope of the medical needs of the population resulting in an extremely vulnerable population getting less assistance than it needs.
Dr. Unni Karunakara international president of Médecins Sans Frontières said that to effectively continue its medical humanitarian work in Somalia to support the population affected by the conflict, Médecins Sans Frontières needs all parties to the conflict and the leadership to help them ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers.
"For our colleagues Phillippe 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." - Dr. Karunakara
Fiona Hammond graduated as a freelance journalist from the John Morris journalism academy. Fiona lives on the south coast of NSW Australia and writes human interest stories and opinions, about gardening, sustainability, fishing, the environment and our planet.
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