Watched by about a million people. forced to flee their homes in Somalia over the past four months, a record number in this time period due to a combination of conflict, drought and flooding, as indicated this Wednesday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). .

Figures released by these organizations show that conflict is one of the main causes of displacement recorded from 1 January to 10 May, while more 408,000 people were forced to leave their homes due to the floods. and others 312,000 due to drought impact. Most of the displacements took place in the districts of Hiraan (center) and Gedo (south).

“These are alarming numbers among some of the most vulnerable, forced to give up what little they had to head into the unknown,” said NRC Somalia Director Mohamed Abdi, stressing that “with a million displaced in less than five months The worst can only be feared in the coming months as the ingredients of this catastrophe simmer in Somalia.”

Thus, many internally displaced persons arrive in overcrowded urban areas or in places where displaced persons have already lived, which means heavy load on some resources is already under pressure and exposes vulnerable people to heightened protection risks, including family separation and gender-based violence.

UNHCR Representative in Somalia Magatte Guisse explained that “humanitarian needs in Somalia continue to grow”. “We are working with humanitarian agencies to better respond, but with daily commuting, these needs are insurmountable.”

“It is a huge tragedy to see the impact on the most vulnerable in Somalia. They bear the least responsibility for conflict and the climate crisis, but they were the ones who suffered the most,” he said.

There are currently more than 3.8 million internally displaced people in the African country, where about 6.7 million people have difficulty meeting their daily needs. In addition, over half a million Somali children suffer from acute malnutrition, and humanitarian agencies have received only 22 per cent of the resources needed to address the crisis.