Somalia’s drought-related displacement increases 231%

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Three UN agencies have said that more than 112,400 people had been displaced by drought in Somalia by June 22 — a 231% increase compared to May.

The Banadir region, where the nation’s capital of Mogadishu is located, has received 60% of new arrivals.

The UN said about 72% of movements were interregional, unlike in May when 64% were intraregional.

In May, the most affected regions in Somalia were the Togdheer and Banadir regions with 26% and 22% of new arrivals, respectively.

“During the reporting period, and as in May 2022, new IDPs (internally displaced people) in Banadir region originated from Lower Shabelle (60 per cent) followed by Bay region (31 per cent) and Bakool (9 per cent) regions,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement.

Factors delaying movement included the hope for rain, support, fear of arrest and the lack of transportation, said the UN.

This shift was driven by the majority of IDPs leaving their region of origin to reach the capital region, according to the statement.

“The significant increase in movements observed in January 2022 could be related to the interconnectivity between conflict and drought-induced displacement, for example, while data collectors may have identified drought as the primary cause of displacement, conflict was certainly a factor as well,” it said.

Somalia is witnessing one of the worst droughts in recent history with nearly 1 million people displaced from settlements in search of food and water.

“#Somalia is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe,” OCHA tweeted Wednesday and said hundreds of thousands of Somalis are one step from famine and starvation.

The “world needs to act fast before it is too late,” it said.

The drought has affected more than 7 million Somalis with half of the population facing severe food insecurity.