Displaced populations a "humanitarian disaster" in Somalia

The situation of displaced people in Somalia, mainly from fighting in the south of the country, is an increasing humanitarian disaster according to Dennis McNamara, Special Advisor on Displacement to UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland. McNamara has just returned from a 10-day visit to Somalia and the region with representatives of donor governments and some media.

The overall situation of displaced Somalis in settlements in all parts of the country was worse than anything he had seen recently in Africa, he added. The settlements were squalid slums lacking any basic services and where some people had languished for up to 15 years. "If some of these were new camps, we would consider them a humanitarian emergency", said McNamara.

McNamara acknowledged the need for the UN agencies and NGOs to be more actively involved with the internally displaced. He added that the Somali authorities had the first responsibility for their own people and needed to do more. In some areas the authorities were resisting agencies providing sanitation in camps, he said.

He also appealed to the international community to do everything in its power to put an end to the unfolding tragedy of people trafficking from the northeast Somali port town of Bosasso to Yemen, an illegal gateway to jobs in the Middle East and Europe. The Puntland authorities should more vigorously prosecute the traffickers and organizers of this highly profitable trade, which is also extremely dangerous.

During his mission, McNamara also met with the President of the TFG, Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and told him the United Nations would continue to seek 330 million dollars needed for urgent humanitarian needs in Somalia in 2006. However, Mr. McNamara stressed that the TFG also had a key role to play, ensuring safe humanitarian access and protection of civilians at all times, including those in Mogadishu. Currently Mogadishu is the only capital in the world where the UN does not have access for international humanitarian staff, due to insecurity and despite an estimated 250,000 internally displaced civilians living in the city.