Worst hunger-crisis since 60 years in Somalia

For the second year now the rain did not come to Somalia. To a country, that has been devastated by civil wars for at least two decades. There is no working infrastructure and no recognised government that can deal with a hunger-crisis, that is the worst since 60 years. Now humanitarian organizations compare it with the hunger-crisis that hit Athiopia in the 80s.



Well, until now the West stood aside, watched, and did nothing. Africa is not soo important, unless the country has oil, of course. 12 million people are in danger of dying from hunger, many of them women and men - but the "international community" really doesn't give a rats ass.

And guess what: threads on ATS are obviously missing, concerning the slow death of millions of people, who starve to death painfully. Are we so desensitized by the media, movies and our careless culture that we overlook such a humatitarian desaster? The fields in Somalia are totally dried up, the cattle died already and from all over the country the people walk for weeks to reach Kenia. There is simply no food and no water in Somalia, and the refugee camp in Kenia, that was built for 90.000 people, now shelters 400.000. Each single day 10.000 more people flee over the border.

Originally posted by Wachstum
Well, until now the West stood aside, watched, and did nothing. Africa is not soo important, unless the country has oil, of course. 12 million people are in danger of dying from hunger, many of them women and men - but the "international community" really doesn't give a rats ass.

I'm sorry, but I find you assessment of the situation totally misleading, ignorant and, to be honest, downright offensive..

Lets just put aside that the Somali's themselves are the reason their country is a pile of crap AND they have fought back at any attempts at Aid until very recently (last week for Islamist controlled area's), the West has put up serious amounts of money not only for this famine (UK Government last week announces an £80 million pound emergency package on top of the existing aid budget of several Billions a year), but every year for the past several decades.

There comes a point when the Africans really should pull their bloody socks up and sort themselves out. We hear how it is a such a rich, diverse place that could feed the world and have limitless resources, but tribal warfare, extreme corruption and religious intolerance amongst the Africans themselves holds them back.

Yet the West is the bad guy?

Whatever...

reply to post by stumason

Lets just put aside that the Somali's themselves are the reason their country is a pile of crap AND they have fought back at any attempts at Aid until very recently

Are you aware of the fact that there has been nuclear waste dumped off the coast of Somalia by the West?

Are you aware of the fact that the Somali population was forbidden to fish off their own coasts because the West wanted to fish there? After they were done fishing they dumped the nuclear waste there.

Honestly, did you know these things?

And it's quite pitiful to claim that throwing money at problems will solve them. Money will not clean the irradiated water, money will not bring back the fish that have died or have been fished out. Somalia was a country that thrived off its fishing industry. Somalia depended on its fishing industry. Until the West decided otherwise. 21st century colonialism, nothing more.

This is the end result of the continuing ignoration of demographic-economic paradox by the TPTB. This is the end result of overpopulation. And it will only get worse, unless humanity changes its ways.

earthtrends.wri.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by Zamini


yes waste was dumped in their waters,and yes their waters were over fished by foreign vessels but since when have fisherman from Japan,India,South Korea other part's of Asia,Africa and the Middle east been Westerners?
sure there was probably boats from the West,but not all of them not ,by a long shot, The Somalians were not big fish eaters to begin with,

Fishing was never a thriving business in Somalia. Somalis are not enthusiastic fish eaters, and the bulk of their catch was traditionally exported. But today there is little left of what was already a relatively small and unprofitable industry.

www.spiegel.de...

Maybe if the didn't destroy their own country with a civil war then they would still have had a coastguard to patrol their waters,

Or is it all Mossad propaganda ?

reply to post by Zamini


I've heard the Somali's claim that the "world", not the "west", has done these things which is why they now resort to piracy, But care to furnish any actual proof?

Yes, there has probably been illegal dumping of various wastes, but don't pretend this is just "the west" when in all likelihood it isn't and don't ignore the fact that any dumping in their waters is only made possible by the nearly 3 decades of inter-tribal warfare tearing the country apart to a point where they cannot even police their own capital, let alone their coastal waters.

It's fashionable tom blame the evil "West", but until Africans face up to their own problems of their own causing, then this is a cycle that will never end.

EDIT: Basically, your logic is back to front. You claim their country is crap because of of illegal dumping, but it is the reverse. Illegal dumping only takes place in a lack of authority, which happened before any dumping took place.

They need to move from away from there.

"See this? This is Sand! NOTHING grows in sand!!!!"

If they had any sense they would, 1) outlaw Islam, 2) close the mosques, 3) burn all korans, and 4) read The Federalist Papers.

Stop The Jihad in Somalia.

reply to post by Frankenchrist


It might sound a tad cruel, but I often say this to my missus when watching one of those disaster relief appeal adverts on TV..

"Mwaske has to walk 15 miles every day to get water, then 15 miles back. As a result, he cannot go to school.."

First of all, why not move closer. Second of all, why are the parents making their kid walk the distance? When you see Mwaske at home with his parents in the same appeal (after he has Oxfam money, built a pump and can go to school), both seem fit and able...

reply to post by Travlla

Because the country has no coast guard, for the past 20 years the Somali coastline has had no protection against European ships dumping waste at sea. Although hard evidence was rare, there have been periodic and mysterious incidents. In early 2002, tens of thousands of dead fish washed ashore at Merca, south of Mogadishu. The causes remain unclear.

Please read articles you post.

AND WTF is that about Mossad in here? Are you following me around the forum?

reply to post by stumason

Yes, there has probably been illegal dumping of various wastes, but don't pretend this is just "the west" when in all likelihood it isn't and don't ignore the fact that any dumping in their waters is only made possible by the nearly 3 decades of inter-tribal warfare tearing the country apart to a point where they cannot even police their own capital, let alone their coastal waters.

So just because the Jews in WW2 had no real police of their own they were asking for the Nazis to F them up.

Just because people did not have an authority of their own they were asking to be enslaved and put to work for nothing in America some years ago.

Just because the Colombian farmers do not have the guns to protect themselves from ATF supplied drug cartels they are asking to be enslaved and put to work on coke plantations.

Your reasoning is so xenophobic and backwards I can't even take you serious. I don't think you are educated. Just because they don't have an official authority to pilot their coasts does not mean the EU has a carte blanche to dump whatever waste they want. That's retarded of you to say.

It might sound a tad cruel,

It doesn't sound cruel it just sounds like something an ignorant ass would say.

reply to post by Maslo


Oh great, overpopulation bullcrap again. Xenophobic much?

Originally posted by Zamini
reply to post by Travlla

 

Because the country has no coast guard, for the past 20 years the Somali coastline has had no protection against European ships dumping waste at sea. Although hard evidence was rare, there have been periodic and mysterious incidents. In early 2002, tens of thousands of dead fish washed ashore at Merca, south of Mogadishu. The causes remain unclear.

Please read articles you post.

AND WTF is that about Mossad in here? Are you following me around the forum?

edit on 17-7-2011 by Zamini because: (no reason given)

I read the article,if you had read my post you would have seen I'd agreed about the dumping of waste off their coast,hence "yes waste was dumped in their waters" I am not disagreeing with you about the waste,

I am disagreeing with you about all the foreign fishing vessels being from the West,because they are not.
I said it my last post and i will say it again
"Maybe if the didn't destroy their own country with a civil war then they would still have had a coastguard to patrol their waters,"




The mossad thing ? well i know you love that sort of humor

This is what a prolonged low intensity conflict zone is like.

Nearly impossible to actually get farming going in a serious way.
Too much fighting, too much theft and vandalism, too much instability.
So people revert to foraging, theft, or begging.

Of course, not everyone in Somalia is in the same boat economically speaking. There are some wealthy people, although few and far in between, plus I assume being them is a dangerous position during all of this turmoil.

There are many places like this in Africa, most of them no one knows anything about like Liberia or Ivory Coast. Just Googling around you can find some very interesting information, although I warn it is equally as distressing and disheartening as it is synonymous with the topic of this very thread.

reply to post by Travlla

I am disagreeing with you about all the foreign fishing vessels being from the West,because they are not.

You are obviously right there. But personally, I weigh dumping of radioactive waste more severe than overfishing. Why? Because one leads to disease and death, it leads to failed agriculture. The other ''only'' forces one to look elsewhere for business, which I also find a serious offense non the less.

"Maybe if the didn't destroy their own country with a civil war then they would still have had a coastguard to patrol their waters,"

Thing is, if they had not destroyed their own nation(which they have not done alone which you imply, also a xenophobic stance you are taking) and did have an authority to fight off the European vessels, Somalia would be invaded until the country was the way it is now. Take a look at Libya. The West does not want to see independent nations succeed. They have to be dependent on the west otherwise they can expect a war.

Originally posted by Zamini
reply to post by Travlla

 

I am disagreeing with you about all the foreign fishing vessels being from the West,because they are not.

You are obviously right there. But personally, I weigh dumping of radioactive waste more severe than overfishing. Why? Because one leads to disease and death, it leads to failed agriculture. The other ''only'' forces one to look elsewhere for business, which I also find a serious offense non the less.

Agreed waste dumping is more serious than overfishing

"Maybe if the didn't destroy their own country with a civil war then they would still have had a coastguard to patrol their waters,"

Thing is,if they had not destroyed their own nation and did have an authority to fight off the European vessels, Somalia would be invaded until the country was the way it is now. Take a look at Libya. The West does not want to see independent nations succeed. They have to be dependent on the west otherwise they can expect a war.

maybe maybe not,

Originally posted by Zamini
reply to post by Maslo

 

Oh great, overpopulation bullcrap again. Xenophobic much?

What the hell is xenophobic about overpopulation?

reply to post by Maslo


Instead of making yourself look like a fool go do some reading.

For instance, it would be VERY wise to look into the philosophies and theories that you adhere to, especially where they originated, which time and who came forward with the theories.

Same goes for this topic, people are arguing from xenophobic standpoints, like stumason does. Yet he gets stars because people do not know where this kind of reasoning originated. This is the definition of ignorance.

reply to post by Zamini

Instead of making yourself look like a fool go do some reading.

I am not the one that is looking foolish here.

For instance, it would be VERY wise to look into the philosophies and theories that you adhere to, especially where they originated, which time and who came forward with the theories.

So enlighten me, then. Also, I fail to see how this is relevant for the validity of the idea at all.

Same goes for this topic, people are arguing from xenophobic standpoints, like stumason does. Yet he gets stars because people do not know where this kind of reasoning originated. This is the definition of ignorance.

So it is xenophobic now to believe that Somalians themselves are mostly responsible for the state of their country? I dont even adhere to this view myself, there was lots of foreign interference for sure. You are just throwing ad-hominem buzzwords around, with no real substance, IMHO.

reply to post by stumason


I think if you look a little deeper into things, you'll find that Britain has a large degree of responsibility for what has happened to Somalia, along with other nations in that part of the globe. I agree with you to an extent they are partially responsible for their mess, after all, some other nations the west left behind have managed to do well for themselves. But to use the fact that the west has thrown money at them as a way to absolve responsibility is typical ignorant British behaviour.

And no I don't have a solution. I wish I did.