IDP News Alert, 25 September 2008

Renewed fighting in Mogadishu between insurgent groups and forces supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has led to the death of at least 100 people and an exodus from the Somali capital, according to Reuters. UNHCR estimates that at least 12,000 people have fled Mogadishu in the last week because of the fighting. A local human rights worker told the BBC that up to 18,000 people had fled.

The reports note a change in tactics by insurgents, from hit-and-run raids to sustained attacks against African Union peacekeepers. An expert on Somalia said the insurgents now view outside players, from the African Union to relief groups, as helping the TFG.

See also: IDMC Somalia country page


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Nigeria: New displacement in Niger Delta “oil war”

A step-up in the “oil war” launched by Nigeria’s Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has caused both casualties and displacement in the oil-rich area. The Nigerian Red Cross said that as of 19 September, ongoing insecurity had cut off access to parts of Rivers State, making it hard for disaster workers to count how many of the estimated 20,000 inhabitants in the three affected towns had fled.

MEND reportedly launched its war in response to government attacks in the previous days, but after a week of intense fighting, announced a unilateral ceasefire on 21 September. The group warned that fighting could start again if it came under attack from Nigeria’s security forces. MEND claims to be fighting for a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenues to benefit the Delta, but the government has labelled them as criminals.

See also: IDMC Nigeria country page


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Chad / Central African Republic: UN debates future of protection forces

Debate is underway on a UN military force to protect displaced people in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended that 6,000 “blue helmets” replace the European Union troops of EUFOR in Chad and the CAR. “I firmly believe that an expanded United Nations presence with a military component would best support the protection and return of refugees and internally displaced persons,” he said in his latest report to the UN Security Council.

EUFOR’s 3,300 troops are mandated to protect civilians and facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance. Despite their presence in Chad, insecurity and violence continue to affect civilians and threaten the work of humanitarian organisations serving 300,000 refugees from Darfur and 200,000 internally displaced Chadians. Mr. Ban is anxious to avoid a security vacuum between the end of EUFOR’s mandate in March 2009 and the deployment of UN military troops. The UN Security Council has so far extended the mandate of the UN Mission to Chad and CAR (MINURCAT), but has yet to approve the Secretary-General’s proposal.

See also: IDMC’s Chad and CAR country pages


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Zimbabwe: Report casts light on scale of land reform displacment

A new report by UNDP states that Zimbabwe’s fast-track land reform programme led a total of 200,000 farmer workers and their families, or an estimated million people, to lose their homes and livelihoods as well as their access to farm schools and other social amenities. According to IDMC, few of the displaced families have found a durable solution to their plight since being forced off the farms from 2000 onwards.

The UNDP figures give some idea of the scale of the displacement crisis in Zimbabwe. In 2005, the UN estimated that 570,000 people had been displaced in Operation Murambatsvina, which aimed to clear informal urban settlements. Others were displaced by Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (against illegal gold panning) between late 2006 and early 2007. A significant number of IDPs in Zimbabwe have been displaced more than once.

See IDMC’s Zimbabwe country page and the report The Many Faces of Displacement: IDPs in Zimbabwe


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Uganda: Calls for attention to needs of most vulnerable displaced groups

A disability advocacy group in northern Uganda has warned that IDPs with disabilities face food shortages and are unable to access public services, while coming under increasing pressure to leave IDP camps and return to their home areas. The Gulu Disabled Persons Union is urging the government and humanitarian agencies to focus more on the needs of disabled people at a time when the government is stepping up efforts to close down camps.

Other vulnerable groups in need of special attention include widows and orphans. The speaker of Amuru district in northern Uganda has drawn attention to the plight of at least 3,000 widows and orphans who are stuck in IDP camps because they do not have any land to return to. Mr Lakony said that many widows or child-headed families were being denied access to their ancestral land, which was often either seized or sold off by relatives.

See also: IDMC Uganda country page


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Kenya: Annan calls for a speedy durable solution for IDPs

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who brokered the resolution of Kenya’s political violence earlier this year, has advised the government to prioritise solutions for displaced people. On a visit to Kenya last week where he met both the president and the prime minister, Annan issued a statement that read in part: “The situation of IDPs is on the minds of virtually all Kenyans I met. A durable solution must be found expeditiously.”

According to Kenya’s Daily Nation, over 80,000 people were on 24 September still in camps around the country, and at least 220,000 others were still receiving assistance from the Kenya Red Cross. Meanwhile, the Commission of Inquiry on Post-election Violence is due to report to the government by 15 October. The Commission’s secretary declared: “We have enough evidence to recommend measures to prevent the country from witnessing the violence it did after the 2007 elections”.

See also: IDMC Kenya country page


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Pakistan: UN refugee agency appeals for funds to help 300,000 displaced

UNHCR has appealed for $17 million to help the Pakistani government bring aid to more than 300,000 people displaced by fighting and floods near the Afghan border. Pakistan’s government estimates that 90,000 people who had fled recent fighting remain in North West Frontier Province along the Afghan border, with a similar number displaced due to conflict in the northern part of the province around Swat. In addition, some 84,000 people have been displaced by floods in August.

About 28,000 displaced people are living in nine government-managed camps but the majority are staying with host families. UNHCR is seeking the funds in order to provide non-food relief items to 310,000 people and help organise camps in case the number of displaced people continues to increase.

See also: IDMC Pakistan country page


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Sri Lanka: IDPs around Colombo must register again

Thousands of mostly Tamil Sri Lankans who had fled from the country’s war zones to Colombo and its suburbs were ordered to register by Sri Lankan authorities on 21 September. The order applies to all those who fled five war-affected districts in the last five years and comes as the army intensifies an offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in the north. People arriving from the north have long had to register with police when they move to Colombo, but last week the police said that they needed to update their records to ensure security in the capital and that all the people who have made the move in the last five years must register again. The police said earlier that the order would affect more than 100,000 people.

The survey has been criticised by some political parties and civil society organisations on the ground that it amounts to “racial profiling” as an overwhelming majority of those marked out for registration are Tamils. The police has defended the move, saying it is an essential security measure to crack down on LTTE militants.

See also: IDMC Sri Lanka country page
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