ICRC ‘worried as ever’ about Vagni
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 06/21/2009 4:01 PM
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A senior International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official has expressed that the international humanitarian agency remains worried on the condition of one of their staff members who is still captive by the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in Sulu.
ICRC staff member Eugenio Vagni has been held captive for more than five months after being abducted by the bandit group last Jan. 15 along with fellow ICRC workers Mary Jean Lacaba and Andreas Notter.
Lacaba and Notter have been freed on April 2 and April 18, respectively. While Vagni, an Italian national, is still being held on Sulu island by the bandit group.
“This crisis has kept Eugenio's family, his friends and the ICRC under immense pressure over the past five months,” said Alain Aeschlimann, ICRC head of operations for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific in comments published on the ICRC Web site.
“I hope that Eugenio will be free very soon. None of us will be able to rest until then,” he added.
Military clashes
Aeschlimann also said that the ICRC is especially worried because of the military clashes that took place in Sulu.
“That kind of news always leaves us very concerned for Eugenio’s safety, because we don’t know where he is,” he said in the comments published in www.icrc.org.
“And of course we’re concerned about the fate of any civilians in the area who are affected by the fighting. Our concern also extends to the people who are working to bring about Eugenio’s release.”
We regret the loss of civilian life and express our sympathies to the families of those killed in the line of duty,” he noted.
No recent news
The ICRC official revealed that they do not have recent news about Vagni. The last time they heard from him was on June 2 when Vagni was able to phone his wife.
“We hope the kidnappers will heed our repeated appeals and release Eugenio safe and sound, immediately and unconditionally,” he stressed.
Aeschlimann mentioned that they are “maintaining contact with everyone involved in efforts to resolve this crisis, in particular the local and national authorities. We emphasize once again that Eugenio's safety is our primary concern.”
June 24 marks the 150th anniversary of the ICRC. Celebrations in the Philippines include a photo exhibit by the ICRC and Philippine National Red Cross with the theme “Our World – At War in Manila.”
“However, anything we do in the Philippines has the bitter taste of this unresolved crisis,” said Aeschlimann. “For the past 150 years, the ICRC's job has been to assist the victims of war across the globe.”
“It hurts to see people who respond to crisis with purely humanitarian intentions become the victims,” he continued, pertaining to Vagni.
Aeschlimann earlier said in a June 11 statement on ICRC.org that “The crisis is affecting our staff in the Philippines and all of us at the ICRC.”
“Nevertheless, we have to carry on with our work,” he noted, saying that the ICRC continues to train prison staff and repair facilities in jails in the Philippines. He added that the ICRC’s head surgeon participated in a war surgery seminar in Davao early this month.
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