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Hargeysa,
June 27, 2009 – Thousands of nomadic pastoralists in Somaliland have
abandoned their drought-affected villages and moved closer to urban
centers, officials have said.
"More than 20 percent of the nomads have moved to the urban centers,
[and are] living with their families in villages near towns," Mursal
Askar Mire, the mayor of Eil-Afweyn District in Sanag Region, told IRIN.
The displaced, who have received aid from the Danish Refugee Council
(DRC), were mainly in the Sool and Sanag regions, which are claimed by
both Somaliland and neighboring Puntland.
Roda Ahmed Yasin, a DRC sanitation officer, said the agency - through
the Somaliland Red Crescent - had distributed non-food items to 1,800
families in Sanag, mostly in 12 centers in Erigavo District and 12
others in Eil-Afweyn District.
The aid recipients, he said, included families that had lost their
livestock to the drought, and Ethiopian refugees heading to Bosasso
en-route to countries in the Arabian Peninsula.
Mire, the Eil-Afweyn mayor, said the prolonged drought in Sool and Sanag
regions had created a food and livelihood crisis.
"Non-food aid is welcome, but one of the main problems facing the people
is lack of food; we would be happy to get food aid for those affected by
drought," he said.
Severe drought has hit Sool and Sanag regions in the past few months
following the failure of the `Gu’ rains. The most affected areas include
Garab-cad, Beer-weito, Xamilka, Dararweyne, Dunuble, Dhabar Mabac,
Kal-Qac, Kalsheeshk, Ceelmidgaan, Dhabar-dalool and Barigeli.
"The rains were not enough to counter the effects of the drought in the
area but at least livestock deaths have stopped, even though nomads
recently moved to Yufle area in Erigavo District where the rains were
better," Mire said.
maj/js/cb
Source: IRIN, June 23, 2009
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