DISPLACEMENT AND ASYLUM

NAIROBI — Kenya’s two biggest refugee camps could be transformed into new permanent urban centres in a move to relieve Nairobi of the security burden while sustaining its humanitarian obligations. The changeover, expected to be in effect within five years, will mean all the refugees currently hosted in Dadaab and …

BELEDWEYNE — Around 200,000 people have been displaced due to flash flooding in central Somalia, a regional official told AFP Saturday, as the Shabelle River burst its banks and submerged roads. Inhabitants of Beledweyne town in the Hiiraan region were forced out of their homes as heavy rainfall caused water …

MIRQAAN, Ethiopia — Hinda Mahdi and her children flinch as the bus door slams shut behind them. They are the last family to board for the ride to Mirqaan, a new settlement in Ethiopia’s Somali region, allocated to house Somali refugees fleeing violence back home. The slamming door momentarily takes …

MOGADISHU — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has urgently appealed for funding to assist migrants facing life-threatening risks in Somalia. Funding to assist migrants in the country has fallen drastically over the years, while the needs of the migrant population continue to increase due to climatic shocks, conflicts, and …

MOGADISHU — The Somali government has launched its first national population and housing census in decades, which is expected to take two years. “We will be counting those who live in the Somali territory and the houses they live in,” Dr. Abdi Ali Ige, head of the Somali Population and …

MOGADISHU — Nearly 6.6 million people in Somalia still face a humanitarian crisis or worse acute food insecurity outcomes despite relative improvement in rainfall forecast and decline in food prices, the United Nations-backed report released Tuesday showed. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said levels of acute food …

GENEVA — The relocation of newly arrived refugees in the Somali region of Ethiopia, who fled clashes in Somalia’s Lascanood city, has begun, with 1,036 of the most vulnerable people transferred from border areas to a new settlement over the past three days. Transportation to the new site, located some …

Since the 1991 collapse of Somalia’s central government, many Somalis had fled the country, while thousands of others have been internally displaced. Many get help from aid organizations, and some make a living by utilizing skills for survival. Despite being considered vulnerable, some internally displaced Somali women stood up to …

MOGADISHU — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday that it has begun relocation of newly arrived Somali refugees in Ethiopia who fled recurring clashes between security forces and clan leaders in Las Anod in northern Somalia, with 1,036 of the most vulnerable people transferred from border …

When people newly displaced by drought or conflict arrive in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, they often begin by asking for assistance. “They’ll move around all the neighbours and collect items,” explains local businesswoman Habibo Ali Haji. “They’ll knock on each door and ask ‘do you have anything?’ and use what they …