WUNRN
SOMALIA - THOUSANDS TRAPPED BETWEEN
CONFLICT & DROUGHT- WOMEN
"Every night
mothers make sure they have enough clothes and food ready for the children, to
run if the town comes under attack"......
Photo: Abdijamal Moalim/IRIN
The current drought
has made the plight of those fleeing Dusamareb even worse (file photo)
Following a weekend of fighting between Islamist militia groups, hundreds of
families fled the town to the drought-ravaged countryside, locals told IRIN.
On 23 April, the Al-Shabab militia attacked Dusamareb, 500km north of the
capital
"This month [April], we have had to flee the town three times; every night
mothers make sure they have enough clothes and food ready for the children, to
run if the town comes under attack," said Hawa Abdulle, a women's activist
in Dusamareb.
"The problem now is there is no food or water in the countryside; the
current drought has made the plight of those fleeing even worse.
"We are caught between a war and drought. If we stay, we may become
victims of the fighting groups and if we run, we are likely to end up in a
place with no shelter, water or food - not much of a choice."
Dusamareb, a town of about 30,000 people, has been a war zone between Al-Shabab
and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a groups since 2008.
Sheikh Abdirahman Gedoqorow, the district commissioner, told IRIN another 4,000
families (24,000 people) displaced from
He said most of those displaced over the weekend had returned to their homes.
"They have no choice. The rural villages they fled to are some of the
worst drought affected in the area.
"We have had a very rough year and if the [expected] rains don't come we
will be in very serious trouble."
Kiki Gbeho, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)
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Many more at risk
The number of needy Somalis is set to increase as the impact of drought
deepens, the UN has warned.
At present, 2.4 million Somalis - 32 percent of the population - need
humanitarian aid but with the ongoing conflict, coupled with the drought
blighting crops and killing livestock, many more may fall into crisis, the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit
(FSNAU) and the Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) said in
a statement on 27 April.
They said
"The impact of the drought is affecting most parts of the country, leading
to livestock deaths and increasing food and water prices, which are making it
increasingly difficult for poor families to feed themselves," said Grainne
Moloney, FSNAU's chief technical adviser.
Meanwhile, Gedoqorow also accused Al-Shabab of looting offices of some local
NGO offices.
Abdikarim Hashi Kadiye, an official of a local NGO Towfiq, told IRIN that its
offices, along with those of another NGO, were looted when Al-Shabab took the
town. "They stole a laptop and a desktop [computer] from our
offices."
He said there was still fear that Al-Shabab could return. "Normally people
used to flee to the villages but now the villagers are coming to towns because
they have nothing. Their livestock is either dead or is walking dead."
Kadiye said the economy was based on livestock, "and because of the
drought, livestock is not providing meat or milk. They cannot eat or sell what
is left."
Abdulle told IRIN: "If we had peace I think we would be able to manage the
drought. But we have no peace and with the drought, our situation is much, much
worse."