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Somalia - Thousands fleeing deadly clashes in Mogadishu

Briefing Notes, 12 March 2010

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 12 March 2010, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is extremely worried about the worsening situation for the civilian population in Somalia which is, once again, exposed to relentless and indiscriminate fighting in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country. We estimate that since the beginning of the year more than 100,000 Somali civilians have been forced to flee their homes across the country.

The latest fighting between government forces and the Al-Shabaab militia is concentrated in Mogadishu's northern suburbs of Shangaani, Cabdulcasiis, Yaaqshiid and Kaaraan. Since February, some 33,000 Somalis have been driven out of their homes by the continuing conflict in Mogadishu. Almost 14,600 of them fled to Afgooye corridor, a stretch of road some 30 kilometres west of Mogadishu. There, they are jammed in makeshift settlements which are already home to over 366,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). Thousands also fled to other parts of the country.

We are especially concerned about safety and well being of some 8,300 people who, without any means to get out of Mogadishu, remain displaced within the capital. As the fighting rages on, aid agencies cannot access and assist these extremely vulnerable IDPs.

Meanwhile in Kenya, nearly 10,000 new Somali refugees have been registered over the first nine weeks of this year. Considering the ongoing violence in Somalia, we fear that Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya, hosting already some 270,000 refugees, has yet to observe a significant increase in the rate of the new Somali arrivals.

Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of displaced people and refugees in the world. There are more than 1.4 million IDPs in Somalia while over 560,000 Somalis live as refugees in neighbouring and nearby countries.

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Somalia

Somalia Emergency: Urgent Appeal

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Crisis in Horn of Africa

Tens of thousands of Somalis are fleeing conflict and drought into Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Kenya Floods Threaten Refugees

Flood waters in north-eastern Kenya in mid-November, caused havoc in the Dadaab refugee complex of three camps. Over 100,000 of the 160,000 refugees have been badly affected by the flooding, particularly in Ifo camp. Refugees' homes were swept away and latrines have overflowed and collapsed. The main supply route linking Dadaab to the rest of Kenya has been cut by the rains, blocking all aid deliveries by road.

To get refugees to safety on higher ground, UNHCR started transferring people to Hagadera camp, 20kms away – often using donkey carts. A series of airlifts has brought in fuel for generators, emergency health kits, tarpaulins, and shovels to fill sandbags to keep the flood waters at bay. Essentials items such as plastic tarpaulins, sleeping mats, and food have been distributed to refugees who lost everything.

These floods have been compared to the massive flooding which followed the record 1997 El Nino rains that swamped much of low-lying eastern Kenya.

Posted on 29 November 2006

Kenya Floods Threaten Refugees

Post-Tsunami Recovery in Puntland

Away from the glare of the international spotlight, Somalia in the Horn of Africa was also hit by last December's Asian tsunami which rolled across the Indian Ocean. UNHCR, as part of an integrated UN emergency response, distributed life-saving supplies, including plastic sheets, blankets, and kitchen sets, to some 45,000 Somalis living along a severely damaged 650km strip of coast in the northeast.

A year on, the area is getting back to its pre-tsunami state with UNHCR and its partners now making the leap from providing emergency aid to investing in development projects. In an effort to improve the lives of the inhabitants of one of the poorest places on Earth, UNHCR has begun rehabilitating schools, building markets and women's centres, as well as constructing roads to help economic development.

The UN's relief efforts are concentrated in a 650km stretch of coastline between Hafun and Garaad in northeast Somalia, an area also known as Puntland. In war-ravaged Somalia, Puntland is a relatively peaceful self-declared autonomous enclave.

Post-Tsunami Recovery in Puntland

Flood Airdrop in Kenya

Over the weekend, UNHCR with the help of the US military began an emergency airdrop of some 200 tonnes of relief supplies for thousands of refugees badly hit by massive flooding in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya.

In a spectacular sight, 16 tonnes of plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, tents and blankets, were dropped on each run from the C-130 transport plane onto a site cleared of animals and people. Refugees loaded the supplies on trucks to take to the camps.

Dadaab, a three-camp complex hosting some 160,000 refugees, mainly from Somalia, has been cut off from the world for a month by heavy rains that washed away the road connecting the remote camps to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Air transport is the only way to get supplies into the camps.

UNHCR has moved 7,000 refugees from Ifo camp, worst affected by the flooding, to Hagadera camp, some 20 km away. A further 7,000 refugees have been moved to higher ground at a new site, called Ifo 2.

Posted in December 2006