Attachments
As of January 2022, Somalia is the most severely drought-affected country in the Horn of Africa with approximately 4.3 million people affected. Furthermore, the drought situation has created a massive displacement crisis with 580,000 people displaced by drought nationwide, including 311,000 people in January 2022 – the single highest monthly number of people displaced by drought on record.
Against this background, Housing, Land and Property (HLP) challenges confronting displaced communities in Somalia have continued to increase. The most severe and acute HLP needs remain concentrated in areas affected by drought and locations hosting large numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees. Newly-drought displaced households are joining existing IDP settlements as a coping mechanism with unclear tenure arrangements, putting them at further risk of forced evictions.
The violation of HLP rights, in the form of forced evictions, remains a major negative factor affecting the overall protective environment for newly drought-displaced populations, thereby perpetuating social marginalisation.3 Moreover, the majority of those displaced are elderly, children and women, including pregnant and lactating mothers. The lack of proper shelter and privacy in overcrowded IDP settlements has exposed women and children to protection risks such as gender-based violence including rape and physical assaults. The pressure on limited resources as well has continued to contribute to rising tensions, conflicts and land disputes in the existing IDP settlements and affected communities.
This brief examines the direct link between the increase in forced evictions and drought by comparing and analysing the 2016/2017 displacement and eviction data against 2021/2022 situation.