Report details abuse of Somalia’s displaced persons

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.

Draft plan

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.