on the precarious situation of the people in the Horn of Africa

and the civil war in Somalia

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to the very serious situation facing the

peoples of the various countries of the Horn of Africa, as

a consequence of war and famine,

B. having regard to the resulting flood of refugees in these

and neighbouring countries,

C. appalled by the carnage in Somalia which, in recent months,

has led to an estimated loss of 40 000 lives as well as

60 000 wounded for whom anaesthetics are no longer

available,

D. recognizing the grave dangers and immense difficulties

under which relief agencies are working, saluting the

courage and devotion of the aid workers, especially of the

SOS Children and Save The Children organizations who are

continuing to work in Mogadishu after the withdrawal of

other relief agencies,

E. noting the appeal of SOS Children that international forces

should be sent to protect civilians,

F. deploring the failure of efforts towards a ceasefire in

Somalia, despite the new proposals from the Secretary-

General of the United Nations,

G. mindful that this internal conflict may well have wider

implications for the entire region,

H. having regard to the need for enormous quantities of food

aid and medicines for the hundreds of thousands of

displaced persons, requiring a major effort by the

Community in favour of the region,

I. having regard to previous resolutions on this matter

adopted by the European Parliament and the ACP-EEC Joint

Assembly,

1. Appeals to the parties concerned to guarantee full respect

for individual and collective rights and cease all

hostilities immediately;

2. Calls for everything possible to be done to guarantee, on

the one hand, access to humanitarian aid for the population

concerned and, on the other hand, the safety of all those

involved in delivering the aid;

3. Calls for the United Nations to consider urgently how the

safe distribution of humanitarian aid can be ensured, under

the protection of UN forces if necessary;

4. Welcomes the UNSC resolution on Somalia including an arms

embargo and the supply of urgent humanitarian aid;

5. Proposes that the money and technical assistance set aside

for Somalia under the Lomé IV Convention should be made

available for humanitarian aid to those Community,

international and non-governmental agencies able to work

in Somalia;

6. Attaches particular importance to the holding and proper

organization of a referendum in Eritrea;

7. Urges the Commission and the governments of the Member

States to make a major effort to provide massive special

aid for the hundreds of thousands of potential famine

victims;

8. Urges that particular care be taken to ensure that the aid

effectively reaches the populations for which it is

intended, including those outside major cities;

9. Calls on the Commission to coordinate Community aid,

support the efforts of the NGOs in this humanitarian

operation and provide special aid for neighbouring

countries which are taking in refugees;

10. Requests the governments of the Twelve to give active

support to economic recovery programmes in the countries

of the region;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council, European Political Cooperation,

the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly, the

Secretary-General of the Organization for African Unity and

the Secretary-General of the UN.