Statement attributable to the Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sergio Vieira de Mello on the ambush of humanitarian workers in Angola

UNITED NATIONS
Advocacy & External Relations Unit
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - New York
Tel.: 1-212-963-4832/2380; Fax: 1-212-963-1312
It was with profound sorrow and concern that I learnt of the brutal attack on humanitarian workers from the NGO Instituto Portugués de Medicina Preventiva on 12 June in Angola. The relief workers, in clearly identified vehicles, were ambushed while carrying out a polio eradication campaign in Barraca, Bengo Province, some 80 km east of Luanda, the nation's capital. The ambush led to the death of two relief workers while another two suffered serious injuries. This barbaric act comes at a time when the humanitarian community is seeking unhindered access to assist populations in need throughout the Angolan territory and only two months after six relief workers were brutally killed in similar circumstances.

I urge the Government of Angola and the armed UNITA elements to take immediate and concrete measures to bring those responsible to justice, to avoid the repetition of such unacceptable acts and to improve the security and protection of humanitarian workers.

I extend my condolences to the families and friends of the victims, to the Government of Angola, and to the NGO, the Portuguese Institute for Preventive Medicine (IPMP).