One in seven Somali children die before the age of five, says UNHCR
Nairobi (Alshahid) – The senseless fighting in Somalia has made it one of the countries generating the highest number of forcefully displaced people in the world, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday. More than 17,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the Somali capital Mogadishu in May only, a UN refugee agency said on Friday.
Approximately 43 per cent of the Somali population lives below the extreme poverty line and one in seven Somali children die before the age of five. It is disheartening that hundreds of children are forced to beg in the streets of the capital and many women beg in the main markets, says the report.
In a statement, UNHCR said over 14,300 fled in the past two weeks alone, following renewed, heavy fighting between the government troops backed by the African Union Peace Keeping Force (AMISOM), and armed rebel groups.
“The majority of Somalis who were forced to flee from their homes in Somali capital Mogadishu are estimated to be 9,300 people,” the agency said. According to reports from UNHCR Mogadishu already shelters more than 350,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) with a large number of displaced families, living in pathetic conditions on the streets of Mogadishu gradually increasing.
Easy AdSense by Unreal ”We note with grave concern that the rates of casualties and displacement have increased over the past 14 days,” UNHCR said. Within the same short period, field reports indicate that at least 60 people have been killed and more than 50 wounded and injured in street clashes.
As the Horn of Africa nation continues to be plagued by fighting between government forces and Islamist rebels, an estimated 200,000 Somalis have been displaced since the beginning of the year. Tentative statistics reveal that the scene in Somalia remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with 1.4 million IDPs, some 570,000 refugees and nearly 3 million people dependent on aid.
UNHCR said many Somali families are in desperate situations, stuck in the embattled city, noting that they cannot afford transport to the makeshift camps in the Afgooye corridor, already hosting 366,000 IDPs and just 15 kilometres west of Mogadishu. There is extreme overcrowding where on average three families have to share a single place of accommodation, the UN agency said.
UNHCR partners on the ground in the Somali capital report that people are exhausted, tense and hungry, but they still constantly listen to the radio, hoping they will hear that the fighting has ended. The power hungry fellow Somalis continue to encourage and finance the fighting from their comfort zones in Somalia or outside the country especially in Kenya and abroad without any consideration.
Approximately 43 per cent of the Somali population lives below the extreme poverty line and one in seven Somali children die before the age of five. It is disheartening that hundreds of children are forced to beg in the streets of the capital and many women beg in the main markets, says the report.
In a statement, UNHCR said over 14,300 fled in the past two weeks alone, following renewed, heavy fighting between the government troops backed by the African Union Peace Keeping Force (AMISOM), and armed rebel groups.
“The majority of Somalis who were forced to flee from their homes in Somali capital Mogadishu are estimated to be 9,300 people,” the agency said. According to reports from UNHCR Mogadishu already shelters more than 350,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) with a large number of displaced families, living in pathetic conditions on the streets of Mogadishu gradually increasing.
Easy AdSense by Unreal ”We note with grave concern that the rates of casualties and displacement have increased over the past 14 days,” UNHCR said. Within the same short period, field reports indicate that at least 60 people have been killed and more than 50 wounded and injured in street clashes.
As the Horn of Africa nation continues to be plagued by fighting between government forces and Islamist rebels, an estimated 200,000 Somalis have been displaced since the beginning of the year. Tentative statistics reveal that the scene in Somalia remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with 1.4 million IDPs, some 570,000 refugees and nearly 3 million people dependent on aid.
UNHCR said many Somali families are in desperate situations, stuck in the embattled city, noting that they cannot afford transport to the makeshift camps in the Afgooye corridor, already hosting 366,000 IDPs and just 15 kilometres west of Mogadishu. There is extreme overcrowding where on average three families have to share a single place of accommodation, the UN agency said.
UNHCR partners on the ground in the Somali capital report that people are exhausted, tense and hungry, but they still constantly listen to the radio, hoping they will hear that the fighting has ended. The power hungry fellow Somalis continue to encourage and finance the fighting from their comfort zones in Somalia or outside the country especially in Kenya and abroad without any consideration.
0 comments:
Post a Comment