By Lilian Aluanga-Delvaux
Ethnic
discrimination, restricted access to aid, forced eviction, rape and beatings
are among abuses being meted on displaced persons in Somalia.
The revelations
are contained in a March 2013 Human Rights Watch report titled Hostages of the
Gatekeepers.
Accounts of at
least 70 internally displaced persons at the camps detail how Government forces
and camp managers prey on vulnerable groups, sometimes denying them access to
food and shelter.
The 80-page
report examines the situation of displaced persons between July 2011 and
November last year and documents findings of visits to 14 camps. HRW calls for
the urgent intervention by government, in improving the security of IDPs in
Mogadishu.
Earlier this
year, the Somalia Government released a draft plan that proposed the relocation
of IDPs from the city centre to bigger settlements in districts outside
Mogadishu by August 2013.
Majority of the
displaced arrived in the camps in 2011, having fled conflict and famine in Bay,
Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions. Estimates, according to the United Nations,
show that nearly 75,000 IDPs arrived in Mogadishu alone in just nine months
within 2011, with Dharkenly, Hodan and Wadajir districts holding majority of
the displaced populations.
While it has
often been difficult to determine the exact number of IDPs within Mogadishu
since they were never officially registered, humanitarian agencies place the
numbers at anywhere between 180,000 and 370,000.
It is estimated
that a huge proportion of Somalia’s 7.5 million people has been displaced,
sometimes repeatedly, owing to conflicts and food insecurity. UN estimates show
there are at least one million Somali refugees within the horn of Africa
region.
In turmoil
Somalia has been
in turmoil since the collapse of former President Siad Barre’s regime in 1991.
Several efforts over the years to restore stability to the horn of Africa
nation led to the establishment of Transitional Federal Government in 2004. But
this, too, has had its challenges.
According to the report, withdrawal of the militant al-Shabaab group in 2011 created a security vacuum that the TFG was unable to fill, thus allowing the resurgence of clan and militia groupings. These outfits are often linked to powerful district commissioners and local officials that control several districts within Mogadishu, including those where the camps are located.
Sexual violence
ranks highly on the list of abuses in the camps, with girls and women at most
risk, including those living within government-run shelters like Badbaado.
The report
details how several women described being raped by armed men in uniform some
identified as Government soldiers.
Often, any victims, wary of the social stigma associated with sexual
violence, opt to remain quiet for fear of reprisals from attackers and have
little confidence that authorities will respond to their claims. According to
the UN there were more than 800 cases of sexual violence reported in Mogadishu
and surrounding areas between September and November last year.
Accounts of
displaced persons from regions of south central Somalia – minority groups that
are primarily Bantus – point to these communities as being particularly
vulnerable to abuse.
“Accounts of
people displaced from south central Somalia, who are primarily from the
Rahanweyn clan and Bantu minority group, show that these communities are
particularly vulnerable to abuse. Gatekeepers and their militia treat them like
second-class citizens and subject them to various forms of repression,” says
the report.
In many instances
the TFG has been blamed for failing to provide even the most basic protection
and aid to IDPs in areas under its control and often denied that abuses like
rape were taking place in the camps.
Besides being
subjected to physical abuse, displaced families, especially those living in
Government or private buildings are increasingly being forcibly evicted from
their homes, apparently due to growing pressure on land and property in
Mogadishu.
Even more
disturbing are revelations that ‘gatekeepers’ within the camps often steal or
divert relief food, forcing some of the displaced persons to resort to begging
due to lack of access to food.
Those that have
dared complain about the harassment often face the possibilities of arbitrary
arrests or beatings by local militias and police. In other instances the
gatekeepers have kept the IDPs from leaving the camps order to attract more
humanitarian aid.
According to the
report, gatekeepers “threaten to confiscate the tents provided by international
humanitarian agencies, with several displaced women saying they felt like
hostages”.
International law
IDPs are
protected by international law and other regional instruments like the African
Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDPs in Africa (Kampala
Convention), which came into force in December last year.
Although Somalia
is a signatory, it is yet to become a party to the Convention.
But even the
relocations, argues the rights group, should be conducted safely and with
dignity, with the Government ensuring participation of IDPs in the planning and
management of such processes. The report also highlights positive steps taken
by President Hassan Mohamud, who in November last year, publicly committed to
holding to account members of the security forces implicated in rape.
But recent events
have cast a shadow on the extent of the Government’s commitment to bring to
book those within its ranks that stand accused of the abuses. Among them are the jailing, in January this
year, of a woman who alleged she had been raped by members of the Government
forces, and a journalist who reported the incident.
Recommendations
made by the rights group in addressing the plight of the IDPs include the
Government ensuring deployment of competent and well trained police to protect
displaced communities in Mogadishu and other Government controlled areas, as
well as appropriate discipline or prosecution of security forces, non-state
armed groups and Government officials responsible for human rights violations.
There is also
need to conduct a profiling exercise of IDPs in Mogadishu to assess protection
needs.
The rights group
also calls on the US, UK, European Union, African Union, Turkey, and the
Organisation of Islamic Co-operation to support efforts to provide training for
Somalia’s security forces.
