Refugees who have fled Mogadishu by the tens of thousands are suffering atrocious conditions, with some living under trees and paying extortionate prices for shelter or even shade, the United Nations said.
Nearly 100 000 Somalis — or a tenth of the city’s population — have left Mogadishu since February amid a growing insurgency against the interim government, its Ethiopian military backers, and Africa peacekeepers.
”Most of those fleeing from Mogadishu have gone to the adjacent Shabelle region to the south-west in an exodus our partners say is comparable to the mass movement which followed the fall of the Siad Barre regime and the ensuing civil war in Somalia more than 15 years ago,” the UN refugee agency said.
Most of the internal refugees are women and children travelling on foot, wheelbarrows, donkey-carts or vehicles in a chaotic mass exodus, the UNHCR agency said on Tuesday.
Rents have soared throughout the region, ”making it almost impossible for people to find accommodation”, it added. In Marka town, some landlords want four months’ rent in advance.
Refugees without relatives or clan links are living under trees, on the roadside or in the open. ”Without proper shelter, water, food or sanitation, many are resorting to begging for their survival,” UNHCR said.
Further south in Kismayo port, near the border with Kenya, refugees have had a hostile reception. ”Town residents are reportedly charging even for the use of shade under trees,” the world body’s refugee agency added.
And in areas near Afgoye, people were queuing for more than 12 hours for water from boreholes, where the price of 20 litres risen nearly twenty-fold in some places from $0.07 to $1.33.
”Many people are now drinking untreated water from the Shabelle River, raising fears of an outbreak of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera,” UNHCR said.
With Kenya’s border closed since a war over the New Year to oust Islamists from Mogadishu and south Somalia, an extra 2 000 would-be refugees to Kenya have gathered on the Somali side.
UNHCR said that despite a lull from Monday in the battles across Mogadishu, the numbers of refugees were expected to rise. Many residents in the city have told Reuters they see a respite in the shelling as a chance to get out.
”The insecurity has curtailed humanitarian access to the capital and surrounding regions, making the plight of civilians all the more desperate,” UNHCR said, adding it had supplies for 5 000 families stuck in a warehouse in a ”no-go” zone.
Smugglers, meanwhile, continue taking hundreds of Somalis and Ethiopians across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen.
On Sunday, boats carrying 310 people forced passengers to disembark in deep water when coast guards approached, resulting in the drowning of six, UNHCR said. It was not clear if this group was linked to the Somali fighting, but aid agencies fear more will make the dangerous crossing because of the flare-up.
In 2006, at least 330 people died and another 300 were reported missing from 26,000 who made the voyage. Since the start of 2007, at least 170 people have died, many remain missing, and 5 000 people have landed in Yemen, UNHCR said. – Reuters