Tuesday June 2, 2020
Any forced evictions of internally displaced persons in Mogadishu or other parts of Somalia would risk spreading Coronavirus among the most vulnerable populations, agencies have warned.
Dr Amina Said, head of the National Commission for Refugees and IDPs, told Radio Ergo that her agency has put in place measures to curb the spread of the virus in IDP camps and is able to monitor conditions in the camps. But if people were scattered by forcible evictions ordered by greedy landlords, the poorest families would be left without any protection.
“There are about seven to eight children in each IDP household,” Dr Amina said. “We are asking landowners to be more considerate and to let these families remain where they are until the threat of the pandemic is over.”
She appealed to landowners to be patient and compassionate towards displaced families living on their property until the government finds a durable solution for them.
Most of the IDP camps in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country are on private lands. Owners often organise violent evictions, demolishing all the homes and structures without any notice, when they want to develop their land for other commercial purposes.
A new law passed five months ago prohibits the forced eviction of internally displaced families.
“Before demolishing the shacks, the landowners must give these people enough notice to allow them to move to a new place which has health and education facilities and is within or near the city, as most of the IDPs work outside the camps as casual labourers,” Dr Amina said.
There are an estimated 2.6 million people Somalis currently displaced by conflicts, drought, floods, or loss of livelihoods.
Dr Abdirizak Adan, from Norwegian Refugee Council, told Radio Ergo that while the forced eviction of IDPs is always a tragedy, with Coronavirus in play it would be extremely dangerous.
“These people would not have shelter and they would lack water and sanitation, which could easily lead to the spread of the virus,” he explained.
More than 263,000 internally displaced people were forcibly evicted from their camps last year.