Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Bangladesh + 18 more

The Aid in Danger Monthly News Brief - December 2017

Attachments

Central African Republic

04 December 2017: In Bria city, Haute-Kotto prefecture, an unspecified number of anti-Balaka militants attacked a Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) police checkpoint at the entrance to the PK3 internally displaced people (IDP) site, killing a Mauritanian peacekeeper, and wounding two other Mauritanians, and one Zambian. Sources: Africa Time, Le Réseau des Journalistes pour les Droits de l'Homme (RJDH) and The Associated Press 04 December 2017: In Bria city, Haute-Kotto prefecture, unspecified armed men stopped and pointed their weapons at a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ambulance, whilst it was transporting an injured person from PK3 IDP. They objected to the wounded being taken to hospital. Source: aBangui

07 December 2017: In Kabo town, Ouham prefecture, suspected exSeleka armed militants shot and killed a staff member of the Italian non-governmental organisation (NGO) INTERSOS in front of his house, after they asked him for money, and he replied that he did not have any. This incident prompted humanitarian groups to suspend operations in the city. Sources: ACAPS, eNCA, News24 and RJDH

08 December 2017: In Kabo town, Ouham prefecture, six unidentified armed men vandalised the base of the NGO Solidarity International, and stole computers, office equipment, and a large sum of money. Subsequently, the organisation evacuated all affected staff but maintained its presence in the city. Sources: ACAPS, RJDH (a) and RJDH (b)

08 December 2017: In Kaga Bandoro, a male NGO staff member was killed after gunman raided his home and shot him. Source: AWSD1

09 December 2017: In Kaga-Bandoro town, Nana-Grébizi prefecture, ex-Seleka rebels fired a mortar toward a MINUSCA base, causing no casualties or material damage. Source: aBangui

Chad

31 December 2017: In Am Timan city and sub-prefecture, Barh Azoum department, Salamat region, armed individuals attacked and stole a vehicle belonging to the NGO MSF-Holland, used to transfer waste from Am Timan Regional Hospital to a dump site. They also tortured the driver, and released him in the bush later during the night. Source: Alwihda Info

Democratic Republic of Congo

04 December 2017: In North Kivu province, clashes between two opposing factions of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi (FOCA) and Conseil National pour le Renouveau et la Democratie (CNRD), have led to the suspension of humanitarian activities in Mpati area. Source: Radio Okapi

04 December 2017: In Masisi territory, North Kivu province, unspecified armed men attacked MSF’s base in Mweso area, subjecting staff to violence and kidnapping threats, and robbing the compound of money and equipment. Sources: Congo Actuel and MSF

07 December 2017: In North Kivu Province, fighters from the extremist group Allied Democratic Forces raided a United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) base situated near a bridge on the river Semuliki, killing 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers, and injuring 53 more. Sources: Devex, eNCA, IRIN (a), IRIN (b), Lemonde, The Guardian and Voice of Afrique

12 December 2017: In Goma city, North Kivu province, Congolese authorities seized a vehicle belonging to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), loaned to National Commission for Refugees (CNR), after they discovered hidden packages of coltan in it. Source: Radio Okapi

12 December 2017: In Mubambiro village, North Kivu province, Congolese soldiers intercepted two vehicles belonging to an unspecified INGO, after they discovered hidden packages of coltan in one of them. Source: Radio Okapi

Kenya

05 December 2017: In Kisumu city and county, and in other parts of Kenya, violent clashes in the midst of political turmoil have led to a difficult operating environment for development actors. Source: Devex Mali

16 December 2017: In Kidal town, in the midst of four simultaneous coordinated attacks, unspecified assailants ambushed the main Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) camp in the city, as well as a patrol of peacekeepers, killing one Guinean blue helmet, and seriously wounding another. Sources: aBamako and Radio France Internationale (RFI)

Nigeria

11 December 2017: In Pulka town, Gwoza local government area, Borno state, a mortal shell took off at an IDP camp, where a Spanish team from MSF were providing healthcare, killing several people. Source: Vanguard

17 December 2017: In Borno state, 35 kilometres southwest of Ngala local government area, Boko Haram militants attacked a convoy escorted by the Nigerian military, including World Food Programme (WFP)-hired trucks, killing four people, including a driver and a driver’s assistant. Sources: AWSD, DW and Reuters

Somalia

29-30 December: In Mogadishu, Kahda district, unspecified agents evicted people and destroyed over 23 IDP settlements, housing over 4,000 IDP households, without prior notification. Source: Goobjoog News

South Sudan

04 December 2017: In Juba, an INGO contracted LNGO demining team was attacked by 15 armed men, injuring two national staff members. Three vehicles and personal property were stolen. The vehicles were found abandoned nearby. Source: AWSD

04 December 2017: In Rubkona, Unity state, a convoy of vehicles belonging to a UN-contracted demining company was ambushed. Two national staff sustained critical gunshot injuries. Source: AWSD

10 December 2017: In Unity state, an unidentified perpetrator killed a Sudanese refugee from the Nuba Mountains at Yida camp. Source: Dabanga Sudan

10 December 2017: In Unity state unidentified perpetrators killed a Sudanese refugee from the Nuba Mountains at camp Pamir, Yida camp, sparking mass protests on 11 and 12 December, during which demonstrators gathered outside the UNHCR compound, before burying the dead. Source: Dabanga Sudan

14 December 2017: Bureaucracy, violence and rocketing government fees continue to prevent humanitarian organisations from operating in the country. Source: Reuters

17 December 2017: In Raja town, Lol state, rebels loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar ambushed two NGO vehicles along the Wau-Raja road, and kidnapped six aid workers from three organisations, two international aid groups, HealthNet and Solidarity International, and one local group. Solidarity International’s country director was the only foreigner among the victims, the rest are South Sudanese. On 19 December, the perpetrators claimed that they had kidnapped the relief workers to save their lives during clashes between government forces and rebels. The victims were freed on 20 December. Sources: Fox News, Radio Tamazuj (a), Radio Tamazuj (b), Radio Tamazuj (c) and Reuters

Sudan

30 December 2017: In Khartoum, a female UN international staff member was attacked in the street by two men on a motorcycle who dragged her behind the motorcycle and then physically assaulted her, biting off her thumb. Robbery is the suspected motive for the attack. Source: AWSD

Bangladesh

02 December 2017: In Jessore district, Southwest region, unidentified perpetrators attacked the executive director of the NGO Protyasha Samajkalyan Sangstha on the outskirts of Jessore town with bullets and a home-made bomb. The victim died from his injuries in hospital. Source: The Daily Star

18 December 2017: In Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong division, Bangladeshi authorities have not approved any pending or new relief projects by local, national and international NGOs since the second week of last November. Source: The Daily Star

Cambodia

07 December 2017 Update: The suspension of the land rights organisation Equitable Cambodia for allegedly failing to comply with the controversial Law on Associations and NGOs and their own bylaws continues. The organisation was suspended in September. Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Myanmar

08 December 2017: In Rakhine state, despite a repatriation deal for Rohingya refugees between Myanmar and Bangladesh, humanitarian access remains inadequate. Moreover, a dozen humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, announced that they would not operate in any closed camps or camp-like settlements, raising fears that refugees would face a repeat of the situation endured by 100,000 Rohingya in central Rakhine, who have been trapped in squalid camps ever since they were displaced by an outbreak of violence in 2012. Sources: Irrawaddy and The Star

21 December 2017: The Myanmar military barred the UN independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar from visiting the country coming January for the rest of her tenure. Sources: Thomson Reuters Foundation and VOA North Korea

12 December 2017: Punitive sanctions on North Korea could have unintended consequences for the country’s long-suffering civilian population, hampering relief efforts by humanitarian organisations. Source: Cable News Network (CNN)

Pakistan

14 December 2017: The Interior Ministry informed 29 organisations, including ActionAid, Plan International, Open Society Foundation and Marie Stopes, that their applications to continue working in the country have been rejected, without specifying the reason. They have been told to leave within 60 days. International civil society organisations have described this decision as part of a growing trend of shrinking space for civil society and repression of human rights across South Asia. Sources: ANI, NPR and The Financial Times

Lebanon

16 December 2017: In Beirut, a Lebanese Uber driver with a criminal record abducted, sexually assaulted and strangled to death a British woman who had been working as a programme and policy manager at the Department for International Development of the British Embassy. The perpetrator was arrested by the police on 18 December. Police stated that the killing was not politically-motivated. Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Sky News and The Guardian

Occupied Palestinian Territories

23 December 2017: The Danish government announced that it would cease giving aid money to Palestinian NGOs, following alleged pressure from Israel, and called on all European countries to follow suit. Source: The Jerusalem Post

Syrian Arab Republic

02 December 2017: In Harasta city, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, fixed-wing Syrian regime forces warplanes reportedly fired a missile near an ambulance belonging to the SCD centre 90 as volunteers were responding to a previous incident. The missile landed 25 meters away from the ambulance, causing the ambulance’s driver to lose control and to collide with a Syrian Arab Red Crescent ambulance. Both ambulances structures were damaged. Source: SNHR

02 December 2017: In Morek town, Hama governorate, suspected fixed-wing Russian forces warplanes fired several missiles at SCD centre 119, partially destroying the centre and damaging equipment and furniture. Source: SNHR

06 December 2017: The Russian government blocked the proposed renewal of Security Council authorized UN measure, that expires in January 2018, and that allowed aid deliveries to pass Syrian borders without permission from the Syrian authorities into rebel-held areas, claiming that such deliveries impinge on Syria’s sovereignty. Source: The New York Times

11 December 2017: In Douma, Eastern Ghouta, one NGO volunteer was killed when the area he was performing humanitarian services in was shelled. Source: AWSD

19 December 2017: The Syrian government continued to ignore UN pleas for permission to evacuate some 500 civilians from the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on medical grounds. 12 patients are reported to have died. Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

25 December 2017: In Abu al Thohour town, Idlib governorate, fixed-wing Syrian regime forces warplanes reportedly fired one missile at al Zafar IDPs camp, damaging around 15 tents. Source: SNHR

26 December 2017: In Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib governorate, a national SCD volunteer was reportedly killed by a missile fired by Syrian warplanes near al Rahma Cave Hospital and the SCD office as he was responding to a previous incident (above). The Source: SNHR

28 December 2017: In Bdama town, Idlib governorate, a national SCD volunteer was reportedly killed by shelling fired by Syrian regime rocket launchers as he was responding to a previous incident. Source: SNHR

28 December 2017: In Kafr Zita city, Hama governorate, Syrian regime forces warplanes reportedly fired two missiles at the SAMS-supported Martyr Hasan al A’raj (known as al Maghara Hospital). A second strike on the same facility by suspected Russian forces warplanes was also reported. The two airstrikes resulted in damages to the hospital and an ambulance. Source: SNHR

30 December 2017: In Idlib governorate, barrel bombs from an unspecified source hit and damaged a warehouse belonging to an unspecified international NGO. Source: United Nations (UN) News Centre Yemen

December: The Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen’s Red Sea ports and Sana’a airport continued to aggravate the humanitarian catastrophe, delaying relief supplies entering the country, and hindering the availability of essential commercial goods, such as food and fuel needed to run generators in hospitals and water treatment plants. Sources: IRIN, OCHA, The Express Tribune, Thomson Reuters Foundation and VOA News

03 December 2017: In Sana’a, fighting prevents Red Cross staff from moving. Source: Alexandre Faite

03 December 2017: In Sana’a, fighting cut off the airport road and prevented the UN from evacuating at least 140 aid workers, pending approval from the Saudi-led coalition. Sources: IRIN and Reuters

03 December 2017: Throughout Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition blockade has cut off fuel for hospitals, water pumps and vital aid supplies for starving children, possibly leading to another wave of cholera outbreak. Source: IRIN

05 December 2017: In Sana’a, airstrikes have forced the country director for CARE to seek safety underground for a couple of days. Source: NPR

07 December 2017: Throughout Yemen, continued airstrikes and shelling forced the UN Population Fund to evacuate part of its team from the country. Eighty staff remain. Source: Devex

14 December 2017: In Al Hudaydah city and governorate, a possible battle between a coalition of anti-Houthi forces and rebels in urban areas could see the sea port destroyed, making it impossible to import relief supplies and essential commercial goods. Source: IRIN

14 December 2017: Throughout Yemen, Norwegian Refugee Council humanitarian warehouses are vulnerable to attack, and authorities continue to actively impede access for humanitarian actors to people in need. Source: IRIN

Honduras

11 December 2017: Five persons have been caught using an NGO to divert public funds, destined for social programmes, for personal use. Source: La Tribuna