Afgooye Corridor Has Become the Capital of Somalia's Displaced

Living conditions are extremely difficult, the struggle for food and other basic necessities have left many in desperate need.

The Afgooye Corridor is the world's most densely populated for displaced people. Photo: World Health Organization

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Lying north-west of the Somalia capital, Modadishu, Afgooye corridor has become home to an increasingly number of internally displaced people (IDP). Amid the deteriorating situation in the city, many are fleeing to outside areas, UNHCR has noted a significant growth in the numbers of people seeking refuge in recent weeks.

Due to the difficult security situation and lack of access, UNHCR has been utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery in an effort to assess the humanitarian conditions within Somalia. The satellite images give the ability to identify and map individual buildings and temporary shelters, indicating there are 91,397 temporary shelters and 15,495 permanent ones within the area.

“Following a new assessment we have revised upwards our estimate of the number of people in the Afgooye corridor to 410,000. Our previous estimate, as of September 2009, put the number at 366,000. In addition to those displaced in Afgooye, we estimate there are 55,000 people in Dayniile, 15,200 in the Bal’cad corridor and 7,260 in Kax Shiiqaal. Mogadishu’s displaced population is harder to be precise about, but we estimate there are 372,000 IDPs within the capital”, a UNHCR spokesman told Salem-News.com.

Entire new towns have been replaced by makeshift IDP sites with more people living in rudimentary buildings alongside the tens of thousands of shelters made of cloth and fabric. Some structures within Afgooye camps are becoming more permanent, as hope begins to fade for a safe return into the capital.

Afgooye corridor has become the third largest urban area in Somalia after Mogadishu, and Hargeisa in Somaliland, the last four weeks alone have seen an increase of almost 12,000 people fleeing to this community.

Living conditions are extremely difficult, the struggle for food and other basic necessities have left many in desperate need. The precarious security situation is preventing many humanitarian agencies from accessing the IDP’s. There are some local partners that are pushing though, however, the quantities are minuscule in comparison to the needs.

Some are risking the walk back into Mogadishu every day in search of a daily survival. Basic services such as health and education are scarce and rudimentary at best.

UNHCR’s latest assessment finds Afgooye corridor have pushed overall estimates of the total number of IDPs in Somalia to 1.46 million, in addition to Somalia’s 614,000 refugees found within neighboring countries.

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Sources: UNHCR