What will happen to somalia

Somalis fleeing from drought in the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions of the country carry their belongings as they reach a makeshift camp for displaced persons in the Daynile neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu on May 18, Ongoing armed conflict, insecurity, lack of state protection, and recurring humanitarian crises exposed Somali civilians to serious abuse.

There are an estimated 2. Sixty-seven percent of this figure is due to indiscriminate and targeted attacks, the majority improvised explosive devices IEDs attacks, by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab. Inter-clan and intra-security force violence, often over control of land and revenge killings, led to civilian deaths, injuries, and displacement, as did sporadic military operations, including airstrikes , against Al-Shabab by Somali government forces, African Union Mission in Somalia AMISOM troops , and other foreign forces.

Federal and regional authorities, particularly in Somaliland, continued to restrict free expression and media freedoms, including by harassing and arbitrarily detaining journalists and perceived critics, and temporarily shutting down media outlets.

Relations between the federal government and the federal member states deteriorated, diverting attention from needed reforms and on occasion resulting in abuses. In January, when Somalia became a member of the UN Human Rights Council, the federal government expelled the UN head in Somalia, Nicholas Haysom, pointing to a letter in which he had raised human rights concerns around government actions in Baidoa. The government appointed individuals implicated in serious human rights abuses to high-level positions.

Somali government forces responded to a handful of largely peaceful demonstrations with lethal force. In May, security forces killed at least one child as students peacefully protested in Beletweyn, following a government decision to postpone exams. In December , during the run-up to regional presidential elections in Baidoa, Ethiopian forces arrested Mukhtar Robow, a former Al-Shabab leader who ran for the regional presidency, sparking protests.

Security forces, notably police forces, responded with lethal force, killing at least 15 protesters and injuring many others between December 13 and 15 , according to the UN. Amnesty International documented the killing of a member of parliament and a child on December Dozens were arbitrarily arrested, reportedly including children. Dozens of government and security officials as well as former electoral delegates and clan elders who had been involved in the electoral process, were assassinated; Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for some of the killings.

Military courts continue to try defendants in a broad range of cases , including for terrorism-related offenses, in proceedings that violate fair trial standards. According to media reports and the UN, between December 31, , and early November, , the government had carried out at least 16 executions, all for alleged terrorism-related offenses.

Al-Shabab conducted targeted and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure using improvised explosive devices IEDs , suicide bombings , and shelling, as well as assassinations, particularly in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle, which resulted in over civilian deaths and injuries, according to the UN. All Somali parties to the conflict commited serious abuses against children, including killings, maiming, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

In , the UN documented more cases of children recruited and used as soldiers in Somalia than in any other country in the world. This trend continued in as Al-Shabab pursued an aggressive child recruitment campaign with retaliation against communities refusing to hand over children. Somali federal and regional authorities unlawfully detained children simply for alleged ties to Al-Shabab and at times prosecuted in military courts, children for terrorism-related offenses.

The government failed to put in place juvenile justice measures, notably for children accused of Al-Shabab-related crimes. The displaced communities faced sexual violence, cycles of forced evictions , dire living conditions and limited access to basic services. Restrictions imposed by the government to limit the spread of the pandemic, including restrictions on movement and measures to ease congestion, along with price hikes and reduced remittance flows , further limited access to livelihoods and health care for displaced communities.

Authorities in Baidoa announced a moratorium on forced evictions in order to mitigate the impact of Covid As of September, 65, displaced were evicted in Mogadishu alone , two thirds of the total number recorded in the country. Humanitarian agencies face serious access challenges due to insecurity, targeted attacks on aid workers, generalized violence, and restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict.

Al-Shabab imposed blockades on a number of government-controlled towns and occasionally attacked civilians who broke them.

According to the UN , between January and August, 11 humanitarian workers were killed. The Somaliland government severely restricted reporting and free expression of journalists and perceived critics on issues deemed controversial or overly critical of the authorities. In January, Somaliland executed six prisoners. At time of writing, the bill was pending for upper house review. US military strikes increased in the first five months of the year. In July, it acknowledged that the February 2 Jilib strike see above had killed and injured civilians.

It established an online reporting portal, but many Somalis do not have access to the internet to use it. Competition among Gulf states over political and economic dominance in Somalia continued to exacerbate intra-Somalia tensions. Human Rights Watch. World Report Donate Now. Somalia Events of Somali families, displaced after fleeing the Lower Shabelle region amid an uptick in US airstrikes, rest at an internally displaced persons camp near Mogadishu, Somalia, March 12, Kenneth Roth Executive Director.

Lockdown in Chains. Rethinking Asylum on a Warming Planet. Sexual Violence The UN documented over cases of conflict-related sexual violence, mostly against girls. Abuses against Children All Somali parties to the conflict committed serious abuses against children, including killings, maiming, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and attacks on schools.

These projects can work. Over the last ten years, they have helped boost agricultural production in Ethiopia by eight percent a year. We have also seen improvements in our early warning systems. We knew this drought was coming and began issuing warnings last November. Looking ahead, we must ensure those warnings are heard in time. Above all, we need peace. As long as there is conflict in Somalia, we cannot effectively fight famine. More and more children will go hungry; more and more people will needlessly die.

And this cycle of insecurity is growing dangerously wide. In Somalia, Halima Omar told us: "Maybe this is our fate — or maybe a miracle will happen and we will be saved from this nightmare. I cannot accept this as her fate. Together, we must rescue her and her countrymen and all their children from a truly terrible nightmare. Skip to main content. Get the free mobile apps Get the latest news from us on our apps.

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