MaximsNewsNetwork: SOMALIA REFUGEES UNHCR

MaximsNewsNetwork: 23 October 2009 - UNHCR: Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and Chad have the largest numbers of internally displaced people- - these are citizens who are forced to flee because of war or persecution, but stay within the borders of their own country. In Somalia more than 1.5 million people are internally displaced.

Perhaps one of the most complex displaced operations is in Somalia.
A lack of infrastructure and constant violence mean that helping the needy is both complicated and dangerous. The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department is one of UNHCRs main partners.
SOUNDBITE (English) Bart Witteveen, European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department, Somalia:
Our approach is to focus primary on the immediate survival needs, in particular those related to water, food, health and shelter. But also looking at other opportunities, taking into consideration the context in which we are working.
The resulting lack of access impacts directly on innocent civilians who are trapped by the fighting and are unable to escape. They live a day to day existence eking out a living transporting goods, or picking through trash. Abdurashid fled from Mogadishu.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Abdurashid Ibrahim Burale, fled the violence:
When we came here we arrived with nothing and now we are earning our daily bread by pushing wheel barrows, getting a little money every day. Thats how we feed our children.

Its estimated that more than a half million people have fled the violence finding refuge in camps along the so-called Afgoye corridor, a 30 kilometre (20 miles) stretch of road between Mogadishu and the town of Afgoye.

In between are squalid makeshift settlements, each more miserable than the next. There is little sanitation, no space, no electricity and a general shortage of food. Hilowley came here with her seven children she struggles to feed them.
SOUNDBITE (Somalia) Hilowley Adan Mohamud, fled from the fighting:
We need people to help us; we need to be given food, bedding, cloths, cooking items. We only have water. There are so many people who dont have anything.
Its a dehumanizing existence. Many hold on to the hope the fighting will end one day, others like Hilowley are ready to give in.
SOUNDBITE (Somalia) Hilowley Adan Mohamud, fled from the fighting:
If the fighting and the problems stop, we shall go back, but if it doesnt stop we will keep moving and go farther away. If there is nowhere to go, we shall die here.
Somalia has been in a state of war for almost 20 years. The violence and the accompanying humanitarian crisis have forced millions of people to leave Somalia. Left behind were the poorest of the poor unable to escape and constantly on the move to stay ahead of the conflict.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Refugees
• Sudan
• Somalia
• Ethiopia
• DR Congo
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Chad
• IDPs
• UNHCR
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[MichEier]

And somalis say my country is poor :O r0fll