Refugees International Press Release:

The Honorable Michael Pompeo
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
The Honorable Steven Mnuchin
Secretary of the Treasury
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Washington, DC 20220
The Honorable Mark Green
Administrator U.S. Agency for International Development
Washington, DC 20523

Dear Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Mnuchin, and Administrator Green:

We are writing to you about an expected and imminent U.S. government decision that could either help sustain critical and life-saving relief to Somalia or exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation and put hundreds of thousands if not millions of people at grave risk. In particular, we write to urge the United States government to formally object to a proposal from the government of Kenya in the United Nations that, if implemented, would cripple the humanitarian aid effort.

We know that humanitarian aid in Somalia saves lives. In 2017, a deadly combination of drought and violent conflict brought Somalia to the edge of catastrophe—one that could have rivaled the 2011 Somali famine that killed 260,000 people. But the world averted a disaster, with the United States providing more than $420 million in life-saving assistance as part of a broader international effort. Today, Somalia is again in crisis, with more than four million Somalis in need of humanitarian aid, including a million children who face acute malnutrition. And once again, we are grateful that the U.S. government has stepped up. In June, USAID announced $184.6 million in new funding for Somalia, bringing the total U.S. humanitarian funding for the country to more than $670 million for FY18/19.

With United States support, international agencies and NGOs have also navigated a complex environment in Somalia. They have worked carefully to develop systems to reach people while limiting aid diversion and operating within the bounds of current bilateral and multilateral sanctions regimes. Although the militant organization Al Shabaab is already listed under the UN Security Council sanctions regime concerning Somalia, a carefully administered (and U.S.- initiated) Security Council exemption has facilitated delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in dire need. This process has proven effective. At both the national and international levels, official and non-governmental offices and agencies have developed a range of risk mitigation strategies to identify, prevent, and address issues of diversion and misappropriation of assistance.

For all these reasons, we are deeply concerned by a Kenyan government proposal to include Al Shabaab in the separate UN sanctions regime applicable to Al Qaeda, ISIL and their affiliates, which does not provide the same type of exemption for humanitarian assistance. As you know, under UN procedures, this proposal will be approved unless a member of the Security Council objects. And while we appreciate that the United States has placed a “hold” on the proposal, we also know that this hold ends on August 29 and that senior U.S. officials are discussing whether or not to object to the Kenyan proposal.

The practical impact of this measure would be to put humanitarian assistance efforts in jeopardy and many hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

Thus, we strongly urge the government of the United States to object to this proposal.

Sincerely,

J. Brian Atwood
Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
Mark Bellamy
Former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Daniel Benjamin
Former Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State
Barbara Bodine
Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen
Reuben E. Brigety II
Former U.S. Ambassador to the African Union
Joel Charny
Director Norwegian Refugee Council USA
James B. Cunningham
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to Afghanistan,
and to Israel
Jeffrey Davidow
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Venezuela and Zambia
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Arthur “Gene” Dewey
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
Former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees
Mark Lagon
Former Ambassador-at-Large to Combat Trafficking in Persons,U.S. Department of State General William L. Nash
U.S. Army Major General (retired)
Michelle Nunn,
President and CEO Sheba Crocker,
Vice President for Humanitarian Policy and Practice CARE USA
Phyllis Oakley
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Thomas Pickering
Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, Nigeria, Jordan and El Salvador, and the United Nations Former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Eric P. Schwartz
President Refugees International
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration
Former Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for
Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs

 Copies to:

Senator James Risch, Chair
Senator Robert Menendez, Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Senator Lindsey Graham, Chair
Senator Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Representative Eliot Engel, Chair
Representative Michael McCaul, Ranking Member
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Representative Nita Lowey, Chair
Representative Hal Rogers, Ranking Member
House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs