Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – While the international community focuses its attention on the hijacked sea vessels under the control of Somali pirates, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued a statement, a copy of which was sent to Agenzia Fides, on the drama being lived by the internally displaced persons.
According to the UN division, there are nearly 60,000 people who have returned to Mogadishu since the beginning of 2009. The majority of them are in refugee camps in the lower and mid Shabelle regions, in south-central Somalia, and in the regions of Hiraan, Galgaduud, and Mudug, in central Somalia.
The UNHCR also mentions that there are 2,200 returnees from Kenya, 300 from Yemen, 20 from Ethiopia and a mixed group of other 900 refugees and forced returnees from Saudi Arabia.
Although the situation was relatively calm in Mogadishu in March, conflict broke out once more at the end of the month between an armed group and government forces, forcing nearly 1,200 people to flee the area. Although the returns are a positive sign and that sustainable return of refugees and displaced people is the preferred solution, at the moment UNHCR is not encouraging returns to Mogadishu because of the volatile security situation and lack of basic services.
The returnees are facing multiple problems, including the lack of adequate shelter. Many houses in the neighbourhoods of return were destroyed in the heavy fighting that took place in Mogadishu in the last two years. UNHCR is leading a inter-agency operation to evaluate the situation in Mogadishu and develop an aid and protection policy with special concern for the repatriated community. The UNHCR is also re-establishing its presence in Mogadishu after all international humanitarian workers were evacuated in July last year, following a security breakdown and the killing and kidnapping of UN agents, including the local director of UNHCR in Mogadishu.
On April 8, the UNHCR in Somalia visited Mogadishu along with other humanitarian agencies, and participated in a meeting with the new Minister for Humanitarian Affairs during which they discussed the next steps to take in support of the repatriated and the refugees. Despite the positive sign of returns to Mogadishu, the insecurity in some regions of the country, combined with drought and the lack of livelihoods among rural and urban people, continues to push thousands of Somalis to flee to neighboring countries. in January, over 24,000 Somali refugees fled to Kenya, 3,000 entered Ethiopia, while another 10,000 people left their homes during the same period because of the acute drought ravaging many parts of the country. Some 8,000 of the drought-affected population were displaced in Kismaayo and Bad haade districts in the Lower Juba region, while over 2,000 have moved from rural to urban areas in Galgaduud in the central Somalia.
The biggest problem is the heavy loss of livestock suffered by the predominantly pastoralist communities in the worst drought in 30 years. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 15/4/2009)
