Although an uneasy peace holds in the strife-torn Somali capital of Mogadishu, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding. Aid agencies are unable to distribute humanitarian aid as armed bandits pillage, loot and rape the defenceless refugees who are fleeing the capital
“No aid has been sent because it is difficult to get access [to Mogadishu]. We have sent aid to other parts of Somalia, but not Mogadishu itself, and then from there it is transported by trucks,” said Catherine Weibel, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She said that 128Â 000 people have fled the fierce fighting over the past few week in scenes not seen since the overthrow of Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.
Weibel said the most pressing concern at the moment was clean water. “People are queuing for many hours for water. When they get to the front, they have to pay a lot of money for the commodity,” she said. As a result, in the past week alone water prices have gone up between 40% and 50%. While a few Somali NGOs have been able to distribute water in Mogadishu, international NGOs have not been able to as there is restricted access into the capital.
Displaced people are resorting to using contaminated water from rivers. “This could create epidemics of cholera and diarrhoea and we have received reports of children who have died,” said Weibel, although she couldn’t provide precise figures.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the hospitals are filled with people who were injured in the fighting. “The hospitals don’t have enough doctors and nurses,” she said. As a result, refugees have to rely on private pharmacies, which have responded to increased demand by upping their prices. Reuters reported this week that more than 4Â 300 have been injured in the recent fighting.
Weibel said the people are increasingly casting their glances towards the sky as the rains are due to start this month. “People are afraid of what will happen if it begins raining now,” when they don’t have shelter or adequate clothing.
She said security remains a pressing concern as people flee Mogadishu to go to the “provinces”, the outlying areas of Mogadishu. As a result of the influx of people in these outlying areas, the prices of basic commodities have also gone up. Another concern is that thugs and armed militias are raping defenceless people and stealing from them as they flee the city.
In the past week, 1Â 086 people have been reported killed in the fighting. Weibel said that while some bodies have been collected, scores of corpses are festering, uncollected, in the streets as few people want to brave these streets during the ongoing fighting.
A tree to call home
Malyuun Ibrahim has been sleeping under a tree with 10 children since recent fighting forced her to abandon her home in the north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
“The fighting was so bad we could not even venture to our gate,” she said. “We have been displaced for two weeks; sleeping under a tree is not home but at least we are safe for now.”
Ibrahim (32), a shopkeeper who had been struggling to bring up her family in the Yaqshiid area of Mogadishu, moved to the Hawo Abdi area internally displaced persons (IDP) camp south of Mogadishu. “We share what little we get. We try to help each other,” she said.
The children, four her own and six from other relatives — aged five to 14 — have been affected by the move.
“All are suffering from respiratory diseases, coughing,” said one overwhelmed local doctor who visits the sick in the Hawo Abdi camp.
“There are a lot of very sick people here,” said Ibrahim.
The priority needs in the camp are food, water and shelter. “I hope we get something to cover our tree before the rains,” said Ibrahim. “I hope we will soon be back home.”
Ibrahim is one of tens of thousands of people who fled their homes in Mogadishu to escape fighting between Ethiopian and government forces and insurgents two weeks ago. While calm has returned to the city, internally displaced persons have remained reluctant to return home.
“There is fear among the population of renewed fighting,” Madina Mahamud Ilmi, the deputy head of a civil society taskforce set up to help the displaced, said on Tuesday. “Many of the displaced do not believe the current ceasefire will last.”
A ceasefire agreed on between clan elders and the Ethiopians has been in place since April 1. But residents, while hopeful that the truce will hold, still fear the worst, said one local journalist who requested anonymity.
Ilmi said the displaced — mostly women, children and the elderly — had not received any “significant help up to now”.
Mahamud Sahid, one of three volunteer doctors visiting makeshift IDP camps outside the city, said the health of the displaced was “worsening”.
Meanwhile, the clan elders who negotiated a ceasefire with Ethiopian troops said at least 1Â 000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 4Â 000 wounded.
Huseein Siyaad Qorgaab, one of the negotiators, said the Hawiye clan elders wanted an international fact-finding team to see the devastation. Talks between the Hawiye elders and Ethiopian commanders were continuing and both sides have been working on making the ceasefire hold, he added. — Irin