U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1997 - Somalia

Approximately 455,000 Somalis were refugees at the end of 1996: an estimated 240,000 in Ethiopia, some 150,000 in Kenya, about 45,000 in Yemen, and some 20,000 in Djibouti. An estimated 250,000 Somalis were internally displaced. Somali refugees and displaced persons continued to trickle home during 1996, as fighting among the country's armed factions subsided in some areas. Warfare continued and even intensified in other places, however. Pre-1996 Events Civil war and factional fighting have embroiled Somalia since 1988, causing up to a half-million deaths. Conditions were particularly severe during 1991-92, when violence and widespread population displacement produced famine. At the peak of Somalia's upheaval in 1992, more than 800,000 Somalis were refugees in neighboring countries, and as many as two million persons were internally displaced. The international community responded in 1992-93 by deploying nearly 30,000 peacekeeping troops in Somalia to protect relief operations. The force included 20,000 U.S. soldiers. Large numbers of persons gradually returned to their home areas during 1993-95, despite sporadic violence and new population flight in some regions. Lack of funds hampered relief efforts in 1995, as UN agencies received less than one third of the $93 million they requested for humanitarian assistance in Somalia. The final UN peacekeeping troops withdrew from Somalia in early 1995. Violence in 1996 Factional fighting occurred regularly in the capital, Mogadishu, during the year. The violence included targeted assassinations, indiscriminate shelling, and direct combat among several factions fighting for control of the city. Clashes in Mogadishu forced hundreds of families to flee their homes in January. In March, a U.S. official at the UN charged that Somali leaders "have failed to make any significant progress toward national political reconciliation over the past year." Heavy fighting in April between two factions killed up to 200 persons and wounded some 400. Among the deaths were 16 occupants of camps for internally displaced persons in Mogadishu, which came under mortar attack. Warfare among three factions during June and July left more than 200 dead and 2,000 wounded, according to ICRC. The killing in August of a major faction leader, Mohamed Farah Aideed, brought temporary hopes for peace. Three leading warlords agreed to cease hostilities in October and pledged to remove roadblocks, halt propaganda, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief. The accord collapsed within two weeks. A series of clashes in the capital reportedly killed more than 80 people during late October and November. Interfactional fighting intensified in December, leaving as many as 300 persons dead and more than 1,000 wounded, according to UN estimates. It was the capital's worst violence since 1992. In western Somalia, several hundred thousand persons were temporarily uprooted when Ethiopian troops attacked an armed religious group based in Somalia. Some 300 persons, including combatants, reportedly died in the attack. Most families displaced by the incident reportedly returned to their homes by September. Humanitarian Conditions The country's combination of warfare, displacement, drought, and floods made approximately one million Somalis dependent on emergency food aid during the year. The needy population included displaced persons, recently returned refugees, and others whose home areas were disrupted by the country's chaos. Crop production nationwide actually grew by 50 percent in 1996, but remained one-third less than pre-war levels. "We are not getting reports of starvation, but there are more and more kids showing up at feeding centers every day," a WFP official reported. Many camps for displaced persons in Mogadishu received little or no assistance, leading to reports in mid-year of malnutrition and hunger-related deaths in the camps. Several feeding centers in the capital closed due to security problems and lack of resources. Relief workers reported 4,000 suspected cases of cholera and 100 cholera deaths among all Somalis in March. Thousands of persons in southern Somalia, where malnutrition rates were as high as 22 percent at some locations, began to leave their homes in search of food. Many headed toward refugee camps in neighboring Kenya. Special relief deliveries to the south subsequently drew many of those families back to their homes. Overall food availability improved late in the year: general malnutrition declined to 7 percent nationwide in November, though pockets of greater malnutrition lingered. Relief operations encountered constant dangers in 1996, as in past years. Factional violence, banditry, and the lack of credible law enforcement left UN and NGO staff vulnerable. Five UN relief workers and an employee of USAID were kidnapped in March. Three Red Crescent relief workers died during shelling in the capital in August. A UNICEF worker was shot and wounded late in the year. Relief agencies temporarily suspended non-emergency aid to Mogadishu in October to protest kidnappings of aid staff. Temporary evacuations of foreign relief workers occurred regularly for security reasons. Assistance agencies complained that combatants used some hospitals and relief sites as military bases. Ten UN agencies and 32 international NGOs operated in Somalia despite the difficulties. UN agencies issued a funding appeal for $100 million late in the year to sustain their humanitarian operations in Somalia. UNHCR issued an emergency appeal for $5 million in August to cover a funding shortfall in programs for repatriation and rehabilitation of returnee areas. UNHCR continued to provide assistance to 100,000 Somalis who returned to the country in recent years, including the modest number who returned during 1996. The agency expended nearly $1 million during 1995-96 on "quick impact projects" in southern Somalia's main returnee areas. The projects focused on construction of water wells, health programs, sanitation, education, agriculture, livestock, small businesses, and improved infrastructure. n