DATE=7/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-H-C-R / ERITREA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264059
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations Refugee Agency says it
is racing against time to get adequate shelter
and food into Eritrea before the rainy season
makes distribution of relief supplies impossible.
Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.
TEXT: The United Nations Refugee Agency has sent
a planeload of plastic tarpaulin to the Eritrean
capital, Asmara. The plane is expected to land
there on Wednesday. The Eritrean government
claims two-thirds of Eritrea's displaced
population lacks adequate shelter. U-N-H-C-R
spokesman Kris Janowski says his agency cannot
confirm that number. However, he says a great
many people lack shelter and have no proper place
to live.
/// JANOWSKI ACT ///
We've got people in certain places, which
we've visited ourselves, living in
extremely difficult conditions. For
example, we visited a number of people at
the Zula site near Karibosa and we saw
people living in caves and under ledges.
People living on very steep mountain
slopes, very exposed to the elements.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Janowski says heavy rains have started across
Eritrea, leaving some normally parched regions
flooded. He says displaced people who lack
sufficient shelter are getting soaked. He says
the U-N also is concerned about next year's
harvest. He says around 96-thousand Eritreans
fled into Sudan to escape the latest fighting
with Ethiopia. He says few of these people are
going back to Eritrea to harvest their crops.
For aid agencies, Mr. Janowski says the situation
in Eritrea is a race against time in every way.
/// 2ND JANOWSKI ACT ///
We talk about a race against time because
essentially what's at stake is next year's
harvest. We've got what used to be
Eritrea's breadbasket occupied by
Ethiopian forces and most of the population
who are harvesting that fertile land are
now either displaced into neighboring Sudan
or within Eritrea. Basically, it's
quite likely that the harvest is not going
to be planted and not going to be harvested
next year, making Eritrea dependent on
outside help. And this is why we talk
about racing against time.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Janowski says the water and sanitation
conditions in the Eritrean camps are bad. He
says these conditions could rapidly worsen the
health situation among the people. (Signed)
NEB/LS/GE/KL
04-Jul-2000 11:20 AM EDT (04-Jul-2000 1520 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
