Thursday, November 22, 2012
After 20 years of violence and turmoil the new Somali government is keen on rebuilding the once anarchic seaside Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The government has resumed the eviction process that started earlier this year and this time targeting government owned buildings, schools and institutions all across Mogadishu.
As a result of the eviction, the consequences are clear; massive displacement within the capital further burdening the new Somali government that is trying to create a stable base since its formation in September.
Apparently, the Somali government feels that with increased security, people can return back to their homes. The two decade war in Somalia made the Horn of Africa nation ranked among the countries in the world with the highest number of refugees.
Now the new government plans on reclaiming and renovating government buildings, leaving hundreds homeless and not providing them with compensation to kick start their lives elsewhere.
As of February this year, more than 60,000 people were said to be sheltering in government owned houses and ministries.
Mogadishu still hosts hundreds of internally displaced persons who fled the vast South and central Somalia in mid July 2011, in hopes of getting aid here in Mogadishu where aid agencies were based.
The interior and National security Ministry however argues that it plans on creating a permanent solution to this issue that will in turn see the government reclaim all houses and create a formula of resettling the squatters.
Now with the squatters joining the IDPs to seek sanctuary in camps, local nongovernmental organization say they are trying to help the homeless but the displaced camps already suffer from overcrowding as a result of the government crackdown on squatters thus increasing the number of needy people in Mogadishu.