This update provides information on the protection environment in Somalia, including apparent violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law as reported in during the last week through the IASC Somalia Protection Cluster monitoring systems. Incidents mentioned in this report are not exhaustive. They are intended to highlight credible reports in order to inform programming and advocacy by the humanitarian community and national authorities.
General Overview
A combination of famine, drought, lawlessness and conflict during the last two weeks continues to raise the number of multi layered direct and indirect protection related cases in South Central Somalia.
The United Nations officially declared famine in parts of Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, declaring that Somalia is experiencing the worst drought in decades. Currently in some parts of Bakool and Lower Shabelle, acute malnutrition tops 50 percent and death rates exceed six per 10,000 populations per day. In other parts of southern Somalia, the humanitarian crisis is escalating as aid agencies struggle with funding constraints and access to Al Shabaab controlled areas.
Although Al Shabaab recently lifted a ban on aid agencies, the group has since retracted the statement and has continued to restrict humanitarian aid access in many areas under their control. Hence many aid agencies have reported that they are still unable to reach an estimated 2.2 million Somalis facing starvation in many Al Shabaab controlled areas. In addition, the militant group has continued to prohibit residents from fleeing to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)-controlled areas and neighboring countries despite the increasingly dire humanitarian situation. Recent reports have indicated that forced payments, illegal arrests and harsh punishments by Al Shabaab have been on the rise despite the worsening situation.
Reports received during most of the reporting period also indicates that clashes between the warring parties in southern Somalia have declined due to increased pressure on parties to the conflict to deal with mass population movements sparked by drought and famine. Despite the continued humanitarian crisis and the declared situation of famine, African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM) launched a pre-emptive strike on Al Shabaab forces in Mogadishu leading to heavy fighting on Thursday 27 July. The purpose of the attack was to protect famine relief efforts from attacks by Al Shabaab after the militant group announced it was planning to step up operations during Ramadan.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a statement this week, that an estimated 100,000 newly displaced have arrived in Mogadishu over the last two months. The total number of IDPs in Mogadishu is about 400,000, with approximately 1,000 new arrivals each day.
Protections concerns related to insecurity are escalating as more people become displaced throughout southern Somalia in attempts to access scarcely available food resources. Newly displaced people in various regions of Somalia are at a heightened risk of insecurity as there is not enough available assistance to provide the large-scale influxes of IDPs with adequate shelters. Recently, IDPs have struggled with sporadic rain as their makeshift shelters lack water-proofing and flooded areas have contributed to a rise in water-born illnesses with little to no medical supplies available to them.6 New IDPs have also faced higher rates of thievery and gender-based violence as they become less protected due to lack of shelter.