SOMALIA: As the Horn of Africa enters its worst drought in 60 years, thousands of Somalis flee to seek shelter in conflict stricken capital of Mogadishu.

Record ID: 739080

  • Title: SOMALIA: As the Horn of Africa enters its worst drought in 60 years, thousands of Somalis flee to seek shelter in conflict stricken capital of Mogadishu.
  • Date: 6th July 2011
  • Summary: KALTUN MOHAMED NUR, 85 YEAR OLD IDP
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia, Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Disasters,Nature / Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA95I9CIE50XYOLRKUJA882QYF2
  • Story Text: The cathedral in the heart of war-torn Mogadishu has become a haven for some 85 families fleeing the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years.
    With two seasons of failed rains, aid agencies have raised concerns that the number of people displaced by drought in Somalia is in the tens of thousands. With nowhere to go, and surrounded by conflict, these families feel lucky to be alive.
    Qadijo Muqtar Ali, who fled hunger from western Somalia, told of her struggle since their "livestock perished". She went on to say that her "farm land burnt down. We have nowhere to stay and we are struggling to find food. We have had many problems."
    Local officials have been setting up tents and food distribution centres in the capital to attend to the thousands of families fleeing hunger.
    In January a senior United Nations (U.N.) humanitarian official said Somalia was entering its worst drought in five years and aid agencies are unable to feed the majority of people in need.
    Al Shabaab rebels, who profess loyalty to al Qaeda, have refused to allow food aid to be distributed in southern and central Somalia, which they control.
    Surging food prices have also left many unable to access the little food still available.
    Eight-five-year-old Kaltun Mohamed Nur, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), was forced to sell her farm in Western Somalia to pay for transport to conflict stricken Mogadishu.
    "I faced problems. I was in a rural area. We endured hunger and we waited for the rains. Our livestock died and we had a farm which we sold so we could travel to Mogadishu. By that time we were eating green grass; then we came to Burhakaba and finally made it to Mogadishu," said Nur who is struggling to feed her two hungry grandchildren.
    Acute malnutrition among children has risen to 21 percent from 15 percent in the last six months. Three quarters of these children are in the rebel-controlled south.
    The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by anarchy since warlords ousted military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
    Al Shabaab militants have waged a three-year insurgency against the fragile Western-backed transitional government and they now control much of Mogadishu and huge tracts of southern and central Somalia.
    There are more than 614,000 Somali refugees world-wide and more than 1.4 million Somalis displaced within Somalia.
    With the drought this year aid agencies say the number of displaced is rising rapidly.
    Save the Children reported that 1,300 people, among them 800 children, are arriving at Dadaab refugee camp every day, with some families having walked for more than a month to get there. Officials at the camp say the children are severely malnourished dehydrated and exhausted when they arrive.
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