ANGOLA: MSF condemns "state of neglect"
JOHANNESBURG, 10 November (IRIN) - A hard-hitting report by the
international medical aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF),
released ahead of Angola's 25 year independence celebrations on Saturday,
has denounced the "state of neglect" in which the people of Angola are
forced to live.
"Ever since hostilities were renewed in the country at the end of 1998, the
Angolan population has been literally targeted and exploited by the parties
to the conflict," an MSF statement issued on Thursday said. "Witness
accounts gathered by MSF teams in Kuito, Malanje and Kaala describe how the
civilian population has been repeatedly subject to forced displacements,
abuses and acts of violence by the two parties to the conflict, UNITA and
the Angolan Armed Forces. And yet the Angolan Government continues to speak
in terms of the 'normalization' of the situation."
"This apparently reassuring official line in fact hides a very different
reality: A genuine disaster is taking place," Christopher Stokes, MSF's Head
of Mission in Angola, is quoted as saying. "Contrary to the fictitious
official line that is given out by the government, and accepted in turn by
the international community and the United Nations, the situation in Angola
is far from being 'normal'. The people are being very cruelly afflicted by
the renewal of hostilities, which have reached a new level of violence."
In nine provinces in which MSF is currently operating, the agency said it
has noted a worsening of the violence and the institution of a "policy of
terror" against the people: "For two years, the people have been forcibly
displaced by the two parties to the conflict, which have used them as part
of their war strategies."
MSF is also concerned with a serious deterioration in the medical and
nutritional situation among the people, and the withdrawal of the Angolan
authorities from the health system. "For two years, MSF teams have been
noticing a significant increase in the number of people injured by weapons
and mines. At Kuito, 74.4 percent of surgical operations are emergency cases
due to the war," the statement said. "Since hostilities were renewed,
massive population displacements in the towns have led to a particularly
serious food crisis, and MSF has had to open 26 emergency nutritional
centres. At Kaala, in March 2000, MSF noted 20.5 percent global malnutrition
among the displaced population."
MSF alleged that: "At the same time, the Angolan authorities are
demonstrating a lack of interest in the health care of the population. The
level of investment in the health system is ludicrous, and the presence of
medical services is nonexistent. Although Angola exports 800,000 barrels of
oil per day, there is no oil to fuel hospital generators. At Kuito, for
example, 1.2 percent of the needs of the provincial hospital are catered for
by the Ministry of Health. There is only one doctor in the entire province
of Moxico."
The renewal of hostilities has forced MSF to pull out of several provinces
and to close 18 projects. Today, MSF is able to work only in provincial
capitals or in a few major towns in districts lying within
government-controlled areas.
"Beyond perimeters that lie between 5 and 30 km from the towns and are
supposed to be secure, the roads and fields are mostly mined, and prone to
attacks. Beyond these very restricted perimeters, MSF now has no access to a
large part of the country, and UNITA continues to deny access to the
population under its control. It is within this context that the United
Nations has for two years completely renounced all efforts to demand access
to these regions," the statement said.
MSF charged that the situation is not just the consequence of war, "but the
outcome of deliberate choices on the part of the two parties to the
conflict. On the one hand, they have chosen to renounce their
responsibilities with regard to health care, and on the other hand, they
have chosen to use the population in their war strategy."
View the report at:
http://www.msf.org/projects/africa/angola/reports/2000/11/normalisation/pr-a
ng.htm
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