Number of Somalis internally displaced is over 1.5 million

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The number of internally displaced people living in Somalia is now over
1.5 million*. The main reason for the increase of the overall number of
displaced (from 1.3 million in the first quarter of 2009) is the renewed
violence in Mogadishu that displaced over a quarter of a million* people
since May 7th.

Despite the fact that the rate of displacement from Mogadishu has
significantly decreased since the beginning of July, the UN Refugee
Agency’s partners in Somalia report that in the last two months only,
almost 95,000 people were displaced, 77,000 of them from Mogadishu.

Afgooye corridor is still the area receiving most of the displaced from
the Somali capital. Afgooye is now home to 524,000 Somalis living in
makeshift shelters and without adequate access to basic facilities, such
as water, sanitation, medical care and education. Humanitarian
agencies’ access to the areas where most of the people are
displaced is still very limited, due to insecurity and continuous
fighting between the government’s forces and armed opposition groups.
More and more Somalis are seeking safety crossing international borders
into Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia.

Insecurity and war are still the main reasons for the displacement of
people, but the current drought affecting most of the Somali territory,
and the consequent lack of livelihoods, are also amongst the main causes
of displacement, as reported by the displaced people themselves.

The majority of the 1.5 million internally displaced are women and
children, victims of human rights violations committed on a daily basis
in complete impunity in Somalia.

According to the UN, Somalia is scenario of one of the worst
humanitarian crisis in the world today. Half of its population is in
urgent need of humanitarian assistance and the displaced people are the
group of people most affected by the crisis.

Over half a million Somalis live as refugees in countries neighbouring
Somalia, mainly in Kenya (312,800), Yemen (146,000) and Ethiopia
(45,000).

*Please note that these figures are estimates largely based on reports
of population movement from around 70 NGO partners based in the three
regions of Somalia

Roberta Russo
Associate Public Information Officer
UNHCR Somalia
Waiyaki Way, Lion Place
Nairobi
+254 (0) 733121136
russo@unhcr.org