Oxfam: While Washington Debates, Liberia BleedsOxfam-America The international agency Oxfam issued an urgent call today for the Bush Administration to commit funds and logistics to pave the way for ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) forces and then the deployment of US troops. Oxfam said that the US must decide now on a desperate humanitarian situation that is spinning farther out of control by the hour. Representatives of Oxfam have been meeting with Bush Administration officials over the past 48 hours as part of an emergency push for military intervention in Liberia.  Oxfam staff in Liberia reported overnight that their supplies of water and food have run out and that most civilians are in similarly dire straits, many lacking any access whatsoever to water. The epidemic of cholera now raging through Monrovia will only worsen if water and sanitation services are not provided immediately. Only the provision of security by international peacekeepers can allow Oxfam and other aid groups to assist a sick and wounded civilian population trapped in the middle of constant shelling and shooting. "We cannot find food to buy. We drank our last drop of water from the tank this morning. How are we going to manage? Only God knows," said Paul Jaiblai, an Oxfam water engineer holed up at the Oxfam office in Monrovia. "More people will die if this conflict does not come to an end within the next week. People will die from hunger and diseases such as diarrhea and cholera." Over 200,000 people are currently displaced from their homes, according to some reports, and dead bodies litter the streets of Monrovia. "Liberia is dialing 911 and nobody is picking up the phone," stated Sam Nagbe, Oxfam's Chief Program Officer in Liberia. "People are despairing and wondering whether or not the world believes that our lives are worth saving. The people of Liberia have been strung along for months with assurances that the arrival of international peacekeepers is imminent, but nobody comes," he said. Oxfam urges that the US Government take the following steps:
For more information, or to contact Oxfam-America, see their website at: www.oxfamamerica.org |
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