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Monday, January 12, 2009
NAIROBI (IRIN) - Thousands of families displaced in recent fighting in central Somalia are in dire need of food and water, according to the Elman Human Rights Organisation (EHRO), based in Mogadishu.
"Thousands of families are living in the open across Galgadud region," Ali Sheikh Yassin, the acting EHRO chairman, told IRIN on 12 January.
He said the situation for internally displaced persons (IDPs) was becoming "critical".
"What little they had is almost finished and no aid agency has been able to access them," Yassin said.
He expressed concern that many of the IDPs were running out of food and clean water. "If the situation does not improve and people are unable to return, then we are really facing a very serious humanitarian situation."
The displaced are reported to be scattered in villages around Guri-Eil and Dusamareb, the regional capital.
According to Kiki Gbeho, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Somalia, despite the problems of access, “the humanitarian community is making all efforts to seek alternative ways to reach the affected … and are currently planning to distribute food and non-food items to populations displaced by recent fighting in Dusamareb and Guri-Eil towns. Humanitarian agencies are also planning to scale up water and sanitation, health and nutrition activities in the area.”
Yassin said since fighting between the Al-Shabab and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a Islamist groups in the area began in late December 2008, at least 146 people have been killed and 231 injured.
He said almost the entire population (30,000 plus around 10,000 IDPs) of Guri-Eil town had been displaced. "About 80 percent have been displaced in the past three weeks and the remaining were displaced yesterday [11 January]."
Ali Sheikh Mahamud, the Guri-Eil district commissioner, told IRIN on 12 January the town was tense after weekend fighting left at least 32 people dead, with more than 30 injured and hundreds more displaced.
"It is calm right now, and we are still trying to start dialogue between the sides," he said.
 If the situation does not improve and people are unable to return, then we are really facing a very serious humanitarian situation |
He said elders were again trying to engage the parties in talks aimed at ending the clashes.
"We want to bring this to an end," Mahamud said. "Our people are suffering and cannot continue to live in displacement for much longer."
Yassin said although both Dusamareb and Guri-Eil were quiet on 12 January, there were concerns of a major clash unless the elders succeeded in their mediation.
Mahamud said the small hospital in Guri-Eil was overwhelmed by the number of injured people seeking treatment since fighting in the city intensified last week.
"It is a small hospital and cannot take on the many injured that have been pouring in," said Yassin.
He said many injured were now being transported more than 100km to Beletweyne, in neighbouring Hiiraan region.
Since fighting between Ethiopian-backed Somali forces and insurgents intensified in early 2007, about one million Somalis have fled their homes. An estimated 16,000 civilians have been killed and some 30,000 injured, according to human rights groups.
Aid workers estimate that more than three million Somalis need assistance.
ah/mw