Over 140,000 Displaced in Somalia in 4 Months Due to Conflict, Floods
More than 140,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia over the past four months, primarily due to insecurity and conflict, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Monday. In April alone, the UNHCR-led Protection and Return Monitoring Network (PRMN) recorded 52,000 new displacements.
The UNHCR’s latest update from Mogadishu detailed the causes of April’s displacements: “14,000 were caused by conflict or insecurity, 33,000 were due to floods, and 5,000 were due to other reasons.” The Bay region saw the highest number of internal displacement departures in April with 15,280 people, followed by Mudug with 12,940 due to conflict and insecurity. Additionally, Lower Juba (26,550) and Bay (8,770) regions experienced significant displacements due to flooding.
The UNHCR reported that 2.94 million Somalis were displaced in 2023. As of April 30, Somalia is hosting 39,025 refugees and asylum-seekers, with women and children comprising 66% of this population. Most of these refugees and asylum-seekers come from Ethiopia (65%), followed by Yemen (29%), Syria (4%), and other countries (1%).
Since December 2014, the UNHCR has facilitated the return of 93,721 Somali refugees to Somalia. Additionally, 42,984 Somalis have returned from Yemen since March 2015.
