The people of Somalia are facing an increasing lack of security and a humanitarian situation that is worsening daily, a United Nations official said on Friday.
“The situation is worsening and every-day violence and human rights abuses in Somalia continue to displace thousands of civilians,” Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
Edwards noted that the previous day more than two dozen people were killed in the capital, Mogadishu.
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday appealed for fighters to cease shelling a surgical centre, after at least one patient at the hospital was killed in the violence.
The UNHCR said that despite the deteriorating situation, fewer refugees are fleeing the country than at this time last year, most likely because it is becoming more dangerous to leave. Militant groups patrol the roads and the smugglers who get people out charge high prices.
Somalia, widely regarded as a failed state, has been embroiled in conflict since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Siad Barre.
There are believed to be 1,4-million people displaced within the war-torn state and another 600 000 Somali refugees in neighbouring countries. Since a new insurgency began in 2007, more than 20 000 people are estimated to have been killed.
Security experts warn the country is becoming a haven for international terrorist groups. — Sapa-dpa