Tens of thousands of famine victim Somali refugees have now been hit by days of heavy rain, which damaged their makeshift structures in the capital, as the UN raised concerns that renewed conflict in the country may jeopardize humanitarian aid work.
Although rains are needed to plant crops and alleviate the drought that has lead to famine in Somalia, the downpour added to the misery of many refugees who live in structures made of sticks, flattened milk cans, and pieces of cloth. Un aid workers say five people, including three children, had died of exposure. A doctor said that people could not find shelter from the cold and collosal rains.
Horn of Africa : Famine and Heavy Rains cooperate against refugees
Disgruntled refugees in several camps in Mogadishu, displaced by a drought that has devastated large parts of the Horn of Africa, stressed that more aid is needed. “We left our homes, lost our animals and farms, so we ask everyone to help us to survive,’’ Abdi Muse Abshir, a famine victim, said. Some 10 million people across the region are said to be affected by the worst drought affecting the Horn of Africa’s in 60 years, tens of thousands alone in Somalia.
Lul Hussein, a mother of five, said her family didn’t sleep at all over the night after their makeshift home collapsed. “We are starved, and we don’t have enough help,’’ she cried.
Somalia Famine : Critical Days Ahead
Osman Duflay, a Mogadishu doctor, said that camp residents were facing “disaster”. “Especially the under-fives and the pregnant women, they’re suffering from malnutrition and communicable disease like the measles, diarrhoea and pneumonia,” he stated.
“The next few months are critical,” the worried doctor added.
Aid agencies have limited reach in Somalia, where Islamist militants are waging an insurgency against the country’s weak, UN-backed government. Last week Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamist militia – which has been fighting the Mogadishu government – said it was lifting its ban on foreign aid agencies provided they did not show a “hidden agenda”
Somalia : Suffering from Civil War and Famine
The most dangerous group among the militants – the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab- has barred major relief organizations from operating in the territories it controls.
The drought and the famine in Somalia and Horn of Africa have affected more than 11.5 million people and created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia meet.
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