Tens Of Thousands Of Somalis Fleeing Fighting
UN Prepares For Possible Exodus Of Tens Of Thousands Of Somalis Fleeing Fighting
The United Nations refugee agency is mobilizing staff and resources in preparation for a possible exodus of tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting in Somalia.
Although no large-scale refugee movements have yet been recorded in neighbouring countries, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is immediately positioning relief items in the region as well as trucks and emergency staff.
The agency is reinforcing its operational capacity in north-eastern Kenya and Ethiopia in response to the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia, where thousands of people have been displaced by recent fighting between Ethiopian forces aligned with the Somali Transitional Federal Government and the Islamic Courts Union.
Relief items, including plastic sheets and jerry cans for up to 50,000 people, are being sent from UNHCR regional warehouses and positioned along the Somali border. At the same time, the agency’s fleet of vehicles is being expanded with the deployment of 10 extra trucks.
Beyond
the immediate pre-positioning of relief items, UNHCR will
also increase its existing stockpiles in the region by
purchasing enough supplies for a further 100,000 people,
both refugees and internally displaced persons ( Inside Somalia,
thousands of people fleeing the conflict are reported to be
in a desperate situation. UNHCR staff in Puntland, in the
north-east, report some 3,000 IDPs who fled the fighting
further south. The agency has also received reports of
several thousand IDPs in the Bay, Hirann, Mudug, Juba, and
Shabelle regions and is particularly concerned about reports
of civilians, including children, being forcibly recruited
to join the fighting. On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner
for Refugees António Guterres expressed concern at the
deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia and appealed
to all sides to respect humanitarian principles and the
rights of the civilian population. Before the latest
upsurge in fighting, more than 30,000 Somalis had already
fled the conflict to north-east Kenya this year amid fears
that the influx could climb to 80,000 by the end of 2006.
The region already shelters some 160,000 Somalis who had
fled earlier fighting and droughts. ends