Calm in the midst of hardship

The guns have mostly fallen silent in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, but for Shamso Abdi Ali, a mother living with her five children in Qoryooley camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the hard times are not over. "I still have no shelter or food," she said. "Most of us [the displaced] still live in horrible conditions, doing housework for other people but earning less money or sometimes nothing." Shamso’s family is one of 181 whose shelters were destroyed during fighting that started on 18 February between the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and the anti-terrorism coalition of faction leaders. More than 320 people, most of them civilians, died in the clashes and thousands were injured. Other IDPs are however happy, saying they feel much safer since the UIC took control of Mogadishu and later Jowhar town in the Middle Shabelle region, 90 km from Mogadishu. Sangabo Mohammed, a mother of six living in Cocala IDP camp, [former premises of the Coca Cola company] said the security situation has improved dramatically. "Before the Islamic courts, there were cases of robbery and rape in our camp by armed thugs," Sangabo said. "Now it is much better." Day-to-day survival is tough, particularly for the majority of IDPs who lack skills. The men push wheelbarrows to earn their daily bread while children collect the ‘khat’ leftovers to sell them to people who like chewing the narcotic but cannot afford to buy it fresh. On the streets of Mogadishu, women IDPs can be seen carrying baggage on their backs to earn money to feed the children they left in the camps. The labourers include heavily pregnant women who are at times seen in Bakarra, the largest market in the city, carrying heavy loads on their back. Barakow Ibrahim, a 90-year-old IDP living in Lazareti hospital camp, said many of his fellow displaced people eat just once a day. The only assistance they receive is from a handful of NGOs. Moalim Jabril Mohammud, a 20-year-old teacher said the stray mortar shells that landed in Qoryooley camp burnt many shelters down, including his, and now he has no shelter. An older woman died and three people were injured. Haji Hassan Gelle, chairman of the Bosnia IDP camp said since the outbreak of recent clashes in Mogadishu, hunger and malnutrition have increased. "The fighting between Islamists and the defeated faction leaders affected the living standards in this camp," said Hussein, pointing to a mother and her four children whom he said lost her husband and now survives by begging. UIC now in charge When the UIC took control of the city on 4 June, sending faction leaders fleeing, some of the IDPs fled their shelters out of fear. However, the calm that has been restored in the city has prompted them to return to their homes. Unsure of what to expect from the new rulers in Mogadishu, and still affected by drought, some of the IDPs have fled the city. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said on 21 June that some 1,300 Somalis had sought refuge in Kenya - where another 100,000 already live in camps. In Mogadishu, many of the IDPs are resettling into former government buildings and army barracks. More than 300 displaced people, for example, have sought refuge in Damanyo army barracks. Before the current influx, Damanyo had received an additional group fleeing drought and food shortages in Bay and Bakool regions of southern Somalia. Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmed, chairman of Somalia's UIC told IRIN that the takeover of the city by the Islamists was "an opportunity" that should be grasped by the residents of the city. "There is huge change in Somalia and a new day is dawning in answer to our problems," he added. "We all must work towards finding answers. We all need to contribute, whether it is material, ideas or advice, on how to resolve our problems. We should try not to waste this opportunity." The city’s displaced come from all over, but most were originally from the southern regions of Qoryooley, Burhakaba, Mareerey, and Minas on the edge of Baidoa where the Somali transitional government is based. Assistance needed Civil-society leaders say the IDPs need urgent assistance. Abdullahi Shirwa, head of an NGO coalition called Civil Society in Action, said the recent fighting swelled the numbers of the displaced. Shaykh Abdulkadir Ali, vice-chairman of the UIC in Mogadishu, concurred, saying the needs of the population had increased. Mahamud Hassan Ali "Ade", mayor of Mogadishu and governor of Benadir Region [where Mogadishu is located], said: "People were already living in difficult circumstances, but now many whose homes were destroyed in the fighting are living in makeshift shelters or in the open." The UN is upbeat that the end of the recent fighting between the Islamic courts and the faction leaders offers an opportunity to help some 250,000 IDPs who live in the city and an additional 17,000 people displaced by recent clashes. For example, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said on 2 June that the recent calm had allowed the humanitarian community to carry out a polio immunisation programme on 99 percent of Mogadishu's children aged under five. Unicef Somalia representative, Christian Balslev-Olesen, said 286,000 children were immunised between 11 and 13 June 2006. Four additional national immunisation days are planned for July, September, October and December with each round aiming to reach an estimated 1.4 million under-fives. According to Eric Laroche, UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, the UN is planning to send a humanitarian assessment mission to Mogadishu. "We will focus on scaling up existing activities, tapping on local resources and further building on positive coping mechanisms developed at the community level," he said.