Drought, insecurity displaced 3.8 million in Somalia: Aid group

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical charity said Tuesday that a long drought and continuous insecurity in Somalia have displaced 3.8 million people.

Those displaced hope to find food, clean water, shelter and health care, according to the humanitarian group.

“Somalia experiences its sixth consecutive failing rainy season and the number of people facing extreme hunger increasing as violence and abnormally dry weather persist, MSF said in a statement.

More than 45,900 internally displaced people, the majority being women and children, are in at least 13 internally displaced people camps struggling to access enough food to survive, said MSF Project Coordinator in Somalia, Mohamed Salah.

The MSF said health workers screened more than 2,875 children under the age of 5 for severe moderate malnutrition.

Somalia is the worst drought-affected country in the greater Horn of Africa region.

The UN said last year that famine has been averted in Somalia but more than 6.5 million – one-third of the population is projected to face crisis-level or worse food insecurity between April and June, with 223,000 likely to face “catastrophic hunger.”

Refugees from Somalia are leaving for Ethiopia in search of a better life, according to the World Food Program (WFP).

A massive humanitarian scale-up has helped to postpone another famine “for now,” said WFP.

According to a recent WFP statement, there is no end in sight for the terrible, protracted drought that is the root cause of the current hunger crisis in Somalia.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the capital Mogadishu earlier this month and sought “massive international support” for Somalia which is facing the worst drought in recent history.

An estimated 43,000 people died due to the drought in 2022 alone -- half were children under 5, according to the UN.