SOMALIA: Conditions getting worse in IDP camps
NAIROBI, 26 August 2008 (IRIN) - Conditions for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu are getting worse, with malnutrition cases increasing as more arrive daily, sources told IRIN.
"Our clinic covers 33 camps, with an average population of 750 families (4,500) per camp; I am the only doctor and I am running out of drugs, while many more people are coming for medical assistance," said Hussein Ali Mohamed, a doctor with the charity Islamic Relief.
He said sanitary conditions in the camps were deteriorating due to the increasing IDP numbers.
Mohamed said: "There are more than twice as many people than when the latrines were set up."
The current rains are making matters even worse, he added.
He said the main problems were respiratory tract infections and diseases related to malnutrition. "We are now referring more people to Hawa Abdi [a clinic that helps the malnourished]," he said.
The number of IDPs arriving in camps located between Mogadishu and Afgoye was increasing daily, according to Jowahir Ilmi, a coordinator in one of the camps in Arbiska, 20km south of Mogadishu.
"We have people coming everyday; the numbers seem to have increased in July and August," she said.
July and August have seen a spike in the fighting between the combined Ethiopian and Somali troops and Islamic insurgents.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Somalia said in a 22 August report that at least 50 civilians were killed in fighting between the two sides.
"The killings resulted from indiscriminate shelling by Ethiopian/TFG forces following the explosion of three roadside bombs," it said. "At Arbiska, along the Afgooye road, more than 40 civilians, mostly Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), were killed on 15 August.”
Muslimo Abdullahi, a mother of eight, arrived on 21 August after her neighbourhood in north Mogadishu became a battleground.
She told IRIN she and two of her children had become separated. "I am now sharing a tree with another family and after we build some shelter I will start looking for my boys."
She said her biggest need was food and shelter material. "We are now living in the open and we eat only when our neighbours give us something," she said.
Faduma Abdullahi, another IDP, arrived in the camp on 25 August and had lived in an area near Bakara Market, south Mogadishu.
"I took my children and fled after I saw what happened to my neighbours [who were hit by an artillery shell] we have nothing here but at least it is a bit safer," she said.
Ilmi said inadequate food was the main challenge facing the IDPs. "WFP [the UN World Food Programme] has been great but the rations they distributed last time was enough for 18 out of 65 camps."
The prevailing situation has made it difficult for aid agencies to access the IDPs in order to cope with the continual increase of people.
WFP said in July 2008 it provided food aid assistance to some of the IDPs in Afgoye area and around Mogadishu. "However, due to shipment delay, WFP was not able to provide food to all IDPs,” said Peter Goossens, Country Director, WFP Somalia.
"Now, WFP has finalised distribution plans and is planning to give food assistance to about 365, 000 in the coming two to three days," he added.
ah/sr
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs
[ENDS]
Copyright © IRIN 2008
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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