By IANS,
Nairobi: Two Spanish women aid workers of the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), abducted in 2011 from a refugee camp in Kenya, have been released by their kidnappers in Somalia, MSF said Thursday.
“It is with great relief that Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut, abducted from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya on Oct 13, 2011, have been released,” Xinhua quoted an MSF statement as saying.
“Both are safe and healthy and keen to join their loved ones as soon as possible. MSF will offer continued support to Mone and Blanca and their families,” it said.
“As we are still working on the return of the two girls to their homes, we ask you to respect their need for privacy at this time,” it added.
The two Spanish women, 42-year-old Serra from Girona (Palafrugell), and 32-year-old Thiebaut from Madrid, were abducted from the refugee camp and taken across the border into Somalia.
The international medical charity thanked those who were involved in securing the release of the two women.
The MSF strongly condemned this attack on humanitarian workers who were in Dadaab offering lifesaving medical assistance to thousands of refugees.
MSF has been working in Somalia continuously since 1991, and currently operates 13 projects in the country. MSF also assists Somali refugees in camps in Dadaab, Kenya and Dolo Ado, Ethiopia.