Somalia: Al-Shabaab bans 16 aid agencies over allegations of "political bias"

"The list of groups banned outright included the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, and other UN bodies, the British charity Concern and groups from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden."

Surely the Saudis and other wealthy Islamic states will be there any minute to fill that gap and help their brethren with their vast oil wealth.

(Sound of crickets)

"Somalia's al-Shabab militants close UN aid offices," from BBC News, November 28:

Al-Shabab fighters have closed down several aid agencies working in famine-hit Somalia, including some from the UN, accusing them of political bias.

Militants stormed aid offices in the towns of Baidoa and Beledweyne, which like many southern areas are controlled by al-Shabab, witnesses say.

By controlling the flow of aid, al-Shabaab controls who lives and who dies.

Al-Shabab has long restricted the work of international aid groups but on Monday banned 16 groups outright.

Years of conflict mean Somalia is worst hit by the East African drought.

The lack of rain is said to be the worst in 60 years.

The list of groups banned outright included the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, and other UN bodies, the British charity Concern and groups from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden.

Unicef spokesman Jaya Murthy told the BBC a group of men, suspected to belong to al-Shabab, occupied their offices in Baidoa and ordered staff to leave.

"They just said they [Unicef staff] should go home immediately and our office is now their office," Mr Murthy told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

The al-Shabab statement accused the groups of exaggerating the scale of the problems in Somalia for political reasons and to raise money.

'Risk of death'

It also alleges that the agencies are working with church groups trying to convert vulnerable Muslim children and opposing al-Shabab's attempts to impose Sharia law....

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13 Comments

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johnmatt | November 29, 2011 1:04 AM | Reply

"(Sound of crickets)"

Please add to this "and rolling tumbleweed"

Terry Washington | November 29, 2011 2:05 AM | Reply

Hmm- following al-Shabaab's logic- either their "Muslim brothers" of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan et al will step into the breach or Allah is presumably willing to allow his "faithful" to starve to death by the thousands!

The charge of "proselytism" is ludicrous- all the above agencies are demonstratably secular.
If Al Shabaab bans Western aid agencies for operating in Somalia or imposes discriminatory provisions(ie by insisting that none of the aid agencies teams include Jews or Israeli citizens), the West should simply pull out and state the reason why( refusal to accede to the obscurantist prejudices of Islamists) and charges of "Islamophobia" be damned!

D | November 29, 2011 3:41 AM | Reply

The charge of "proselytism" is ludicrous- all the above agencies are demonstratably secular.

They view it as a proselytism to a secular "religion".

macck | November 29, 2011 4:22 AM | Reply

The Shabaab accusing others of "bias." That's like Hitler claiming the allies arrayed against him were bigots.

RonaldB | November 29, 2011 5:14 AM | Reply

The Somali Muslims are pulling the old trick of holding their own people hostage. It is most important to not allow in more Somali refugees into Western countries, where Al Shabaab and their like always accompany them. We cannot help the people in Somalia, but we do have a choice as to whether we threaten our own, far better, society.

desidude | November 29, 2011 5:39 AM | Reply

These muslim knuckle draggers are only putting into action the sharia compliant belief that it is better if a muslim dies in belief than in disbelief or as an apostate or worse.

Bewick114 | November 29, 2011 6:48 AM | Reply

Hell. shouldn't we be withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan and going in BIG TIME into Somalia - no timid "black hawk down" excursions.
Then again we Brits have failed to invade Zimbabwe and take out Mugabe so we aren't without blame.
The West has become SOFT and we shall sow what we reap. WAKE UP OBAMA AND CAMERON AND MANY OTHERS.

American Delight | November 29, 2011 6:53 AM | Reply

Western aid organizations have been shrieking for years about the supposed "criminalization" of philanthropy since 9/11 due to alleged restrictions on Muslim charity by the the Bush administration.

But when humanitarian action is literally outlawed by al-Shabaab, the sheepish charities shrug their shoulders, pack up and say, "well, that's a shame."

I wish they'd show at least half the vitriol to al-Shabaab that they showed to George Bush.

ebonystone | November 29, 2011 6:55 AM | Reply

"Surely the Saudis and other wealthy Islamic states will be there any minute to fill that gap and help their brethren with their vast oil wealth."

And surely all the well-off Moslems in the U.S. and other Western countries will make generous contributions -- especially the Somalis. Or maybe not.

Bewick114 replied to comment from ebonystone | November 29, 2011 7:18 AM | Reply

"or maybe not" seems about right. The sooner the West makes a technological breakthrough on cheap energy the better. The downside of course would be more Muslims seeking to emigrate from their now more impoverished hell holes. We must close the borders and with force.

exsgtbrown | November 29, 2011 11:58 AM | Reply

You might think the starving Somalians would recognize that Islam is the reason they are starving and you just might be wrong...

dumbledoresarmy | November 29, 2011 6:24 PM | Reply

Here's another account.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-29/al-shabaab-bans-some-somali-aid-groups/3700506
Al Shabaab loot, expel Somali aid groups

Excerpts:

"Al Shabaab rebels stormed and looted offices of aid organisations in famine-hit Somalia on Monday, the United Nations said, and the rebels announced a ban on 16 relief agencies from areas they control."

Note the 'looted' bit.

And look at what they took - stuff they have no idea how to use, that will have no conceivable resale value, since the moment the cooling fails, what has been stolen will become worthless junk.

"Al Shabaab have just started to loot UNICEF and WHO compounds in the town - they stormed and seized the compounds two hours ago. Now I can see them carrying the agencies' equipment out," Baidoa resident Ali Abdullahi told Reuters.

Another resident in Wajid said he saw Al Shabaab fighters forcing security guards out of UNICEF's compound.
"Immediately, **they started looting vaccinations and even the freezers in which they are stored in,"** {my emphasis - dda} Fadumo Ibrahim told Reuters.'

They stole **vaccinations and the freezers in which they are stored**.

And what, pray, are a bunch of illiterate pig-ignorant THUGS going to do with biomedical materials that need to be kept cool and that can only be used by competent doctors following precise instructions?

Idiots, damned idiots, destroyers, vandals, who know only how to do one thing: steal, and then smash, whatever good things other societies have created.

Islam actively, consciously produces and validates the kind of thug who would rather kick over someone else's sandcastle, than build his own.

gravenimage replied to comment from dumbledoresarmy | November 29, 2011 10:21 PM | Reply

Dumbledore's Army wrote:

Idiots, damned idiots, destroyers, vandals, who know only how to do one thing: steal, and then smash, whatever good things other societies have created.
.........................

*Nothing*—they are just preventing anyone from being aided by these medication—even their own people.

This reminds me of that passage from John Roy Carlsons' 1951 "From Cairo to Damascus" where he describes the wanton, mindless looting of the Palestine Potash works.

You posted his account back in May, along with some very illuminating notes. I looked it up—you can find the passage here:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/05/afghanistan-jihad-against-road-construction-workers.html#comment-789830

Nothing has changed in 60 years—or 600 years. The same mindless destruction by Muslims of what civilized men have built.

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