UNITED
NATIONS, May
16 -- After
the UN refused
to circulate
Somaliland's
April 1
letter, then
downplayed its
non-attendance
at the
"Somalia"
conference in
London,
on May 14
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City Press:
Somaliland
says that UN
planes can no
longer, for
now,
land in any
Somaliland
airport and
they are
ascribing this
to a
decision they
say by the UN
to turn over
full
management of
their
airspace to
the Government
of Somalia....
does the UN
have any
comment on its
planes being
barred from
Somaliland and
what impact
would that
have on the
delivery of UN
programs
there?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I’d have to
check,
Matthew, I
don’t know the
answer to
that. I’d just
have to check.
And
the next day
Nesirky did
come back with
an answer,
waiting until
the
May 15 noon
briefing to
read it out:
I
was asked
yesterday
about flights
to Somaliland.
I can say
that,
following
notification
by authorities
in Somaliland,
all UN flights
to and from
Somaliland
have been
suspended with
effect from
yesterday. The
UN and its
agencies take
this
development
seriously
and are in
discussions
with the
relevant
authorities to
bring about a
resolution as
quickly as
possible.
There
has been no
impact on UN
programmes and
it is our
priority to
ensure
no
interruption
of support or
activities.
The UN
welcomes the
efforts to
resolve this
quickly. The
Office for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs says
that around
413,000 people
in Somaliland
need
humanitarian
aid, including
39,000
children who
suffer from
malnutrition.
More than
85,000 people
remain
displaced due
to
recurrent
drought and
conflict.
Humanitarian
organizations
are
providing
food,
nutrition,
shelter, water
and
sanitation,
among other
support.
But
how will it
continue, if
UN planes due
to this still
unjustified
decision,
can't land
anymore? And
now this:
Somaliland's
Minister
of
Telecommunications
is said to be
planning to
create another
country code,
to replace
Somalia's 252.
The
UN, perhaps to
remain tight
with
Mogadishu,
appears to be
ignoring
the issues
raised by
Somaliland. Is
this the best
approach?
Watch
this site.
, 
