Recent Fighting in Somalia Displaces 33,000 People Says UNHCR (NEWS BRIEF)

Somali refugee camps in Dadaab PHOTO CREDIT: UN News(HN, April 8, 2011) Some 33,000 people have been displaced in the past six weeks due to fighting in southern and central Somalia between government forces and Al-Shabaab militants.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) more than half of these are people who have been displaced in Mogadishu – the Somali capital already shelters about 372,000 of the more than 1.4 million people displaced people in this African nation.

Adrian Edwards, the agency’s spokesperson in Geneva told a news conference that the “UNHCR is monitoring a deteriorating situation in south and central Somali where sporadic fighting has continued to be reported in the towns of Doolow, Bulo, Hawo, Luug, Elwaag, Dhoobley, Diif and Taabdo”

He went on to say “We are again urging all armed groups and forces in Somalia to avoid targeting civilian areas and to ensure that civilians are not being placed in harm’s way.”

“According to local sources, the town and its surrounding areas remain tense. Pro-Government forces have been consolidating their control of the town, which they took earlier this week,” said Mr. Edwards.

Many of the most recently displaced people are people who have fled shelling in their towns.

In Bulo Hawo, a Somali town across the border from Mandera in north-western Kenya, people are in desperate need of shelter. UNHCR staff report that 150 permanent shelters and some 400 to 500 temporary structures were destroyed during recent shelling. The market area has also been destroyed and many people are sleeping outside.

Mr. Edwards said that, security and access permitting, UNHCR hopes to have its staff, as part of joint UN assessment missions, visit these areas and plan distributions of aid.

Meanwhile, UNHCR said the number of Somalis arriving in Kenya has been growing over the past three months, with over 31,000 having arrived this year alone. Kenya hosts more than half of the 680,000 Somalis who live as refugees in neighboring countries. 

- HUMNews Staff, UN News Center