Aid Workers Kidnapped in Somalia; in Hands of Pirates

Rescue efforts to gain the release of two aids workers kidnapped from the Dadaab refugee camp three months ago were complicated by the Kenyan government’s pursuit of members of the Islamist Al-Shabab into Somalia. The two Spanish volunteers who were working for Medicins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) were originally believed to be in Somalia.

Raquel Ayora, MSF’s Director of Operations, reported their organization had no information on the whereabouts of the aid workers. Furthermore, MSF had distanced itself from the Kenyan government because it believed the government’s actions might jeopardize the safe return of the workers. And because of this kidnapping and other civilian abductions along with the killing of Dadaab policemen at the camps, MSF cut services to refugees at the camp.

On October 13, 2011, Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebout were last seen leaving the UNHCR’s Ifo Extension camp just outside the Dadaab refugee camp with a driver. The ambush occurred at the end of their shift in broad daylight. The driver, who was shot during the kidnapping, has since recovered and stated the ambush was at the hands of armed bandits.

Price: $100,000 each

Pirates, according to the Somalia Report, have since reported the women were purchased from Al-Shahab for $200,000 ($100,000 each) and are being held at sea to avoid capture on land. The Dadaab camp is located between the borders of Kenya and Somalia. It has 450,000 refugees and is Kenya’s third or fourth largest city, formed by natural circumstance rather than city planning.

According to The United Nations, the Dadaab refugee camps received 172,000 new arrivals in 2011. Refugees continue to flow into the camps in search of food and security. Ayora’s statement that the organization had withdrawn to Nairobi until such time that the agency’s work could be restored initially sounded like code that MSF was quietly negotiating the return of the two women in partnership with the Spanish government. But now that the pirates have admitted the women are in their custody, it is difficult to know what to expect next.

The stories of refugees crossing borders in search of food and personal safety has left the front pages of most western news services. We are hardened to images of emaciated babies, distended stomachs, dusty roads and makeshift shelters. We cannot figure out what we can do to hurry change. We must be vigilant in joining with Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) to call for the safe return of Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut. It is as the MSF website says: “These attacks on aid workers must be condemned in the strongest terms, MSF said today. They jeopardize life-saving medical projects that are already far from adequate in addressing the vast medical needs of the Somali population.”

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Photo from Thinkstock

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

New G.

11:59PM PST on Feb 7, 2012

Agree with patricia m l.

send a green star

John D.

6:22AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

"If we want the pirates to stop taking hostages, we can do this by" addressing the fundamental and underlying problems of the region. For instance, many of the much-maligned Somali "pirates" are simply ex-fishermen whose livelihood has been taken away from them by the arrival of factory fleets decimating their catches. They never harmed their guests until the West decided to get heavy on these reasonable "taxes" the "pirates" were demanding to gain needed injections of cash into the bankrupt Somali economy.

KS G.

4:06AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

Thanks for the article.

James R.

2:46AM PST on Feb 6, 2012

If we want the pirates to stop taking hostages, we can do this by not providing hostages for them to take! In other words, stay out of there!

If you put yourself in harms way, then expect what you get!

Chad A.

5:36PM PST on Feb 5, 2012

Rather than a militarized patrol of Somalia and financing continued war there, the international community needs to come to gether to support and build up coherent institutions that can start to meet the needs of Somalis so that violence and war are no longer the most attractive alternative. Militarized responses seem just to make the Somalis more careful, better armed, and more likely to prey on weaker targets. Let's do more to keep anyone from being a target.

patricia m l.

7:23AM PST on Feb 5, 2012

What a sad state of affairs!

Vivianne M.

4:02PM PST on Feb 3, 2012

this is a crazy world right now...I hope we can repair all of the fear and hate...to become real humans.

4:01PM PST on Feb 3, 2012