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Nairobi, Friday 5 June 2009 –
The number of Somalis forced from their homes in Mogadishu has now
topped 96,000 since the start of fighting between government forces and
armed opposition groups on May 8.
Out of this latest total of displaced, an estimated 35,000are still in
the city, looking for shelter in more secure areas because they have no
means to leave. Some 26,000 have managed to flee to makeshift sites in
the so-called Afgooye corridor about 30kms south-east of Mogadishu,
joining 400,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) already sheltering
there. The remaining 35,000 have fled to other parts of Somalia. Some of
them are also making their way towards neighboring countries.
According to UNHCR’s local partners in Somalia, some 2,000 people have
indicated that they plan to cross the border into Kenya. More than a
thousand said they are ready to risk their lives and make the perilous
journey with smugglers across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Some 600 people
told our local partners they were heading towards Ethiopia.
In neighboring Kenya, the number of new arrivals from Somalia spiked
from an average of 100 a day to nearly 200 over the past week. Since the
beginning of the year, almost 32,000 people have crossed into Kenya,
bringing the total number of Somali refugees in the country to more than
297,000.
We continue to rush aid to the displaced in Somalia. UNHCR’s local
partners have just completed the first phase of an aid distribution
south of Mogadishu. Deliveries of UNHCR aid items began on Tuesday 26
May and 12,600 people received plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, kitchen
sets, blankets, jerry cans and sanitary pads in Kah Shiqal area of
southern Mogadishu.
The next phase of aid distribution was scheduled to start earlier this
week in the vicinity of a location called Kilometer 13, on the
south-eastern outskirts of the Somali capital. During this phase we had
hoped to provide …/… humanitarian assistance to almost 30,000 people but
the distribution was halted due to fighting between opposition groups
and government forces for the control of the main road from Mogadishu to
the Afgooye district.
UNHCR is leading a task force to coordinate the response and
interventions of all humanitarian actors in this new emergency.
For further information on these topics, please contact:
Roberta Russo +254-733-121136
Associate Public Information Officer russo@unhcr.org
UNHCR Somalia
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