Somaliland: Widespread cases of Sexual and Gender-based violence at Mohamed Moge Camp
Photo by UNFPA Somalia
Environment and migration can be strongly tied as demonstrated by the case of Somaliland. Although often a neglected topic, the consequences for environmental refugees are enormous. Currently, more than 80.000 people have fled to Hargeisa due to a severe drought in the eastern region of the country. In addition to the dire situation faced by the internally displaced persons in general, women at the Mohamed Moge refugee camp have been suffering with widespread cases of sexual and gender-based violence.
Below is an article published by the Somaliland Sun:
Somaliland – In Hargeisa which has become the main destination of climate-forced refugees and currently home to over 80,000 internally displaced persons life here is a far cry from the relief most had hoped for, the situation proving even worse for women refugees.
According to the INDEPENDENT, in Somaliland where Tens of thousands of people have been internally displaced as a direct result of the Horn of Africa’s ongoing unprecedented drought, it is women and young mothers who are bearing the brunt.
At the Mohamed Moge camp in Hargeisa for the internally displaced mostly from drought-ridden eastern Somaliland Cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are rife. A lack of police presence, inadequate lighting, an absence of sanitary facilities and an increase in the number of female-only households has rendered this camp an ideal ground for SGBV.
Another article on the same topic is published by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/east-africa-drought-horn-somaliland-somalia-refugees-rape-miscarriages-a7586471.html
“Two days ago four men came, grabbed me and started raping me. Most women and girls in the camp have been assaulted or raped by gangs,” begins Hodan Ahmedan, 23, sitting in her makeshift shelter where she has lived since she arrived from drought-ridden eastern Somaliland to a camp for internally displaced in Mohamed Moge, Hargeisa. When women arrive in the capital they find themselves cast to the margins, in hostile environments with few employment opportunities. While men have found it possible to find jobs in the city, the multitude of dangers the drought has exposed women to – from sexual assaults, to illegal land grabbing, to lack of sanitary facilities – clearly demonstrates that it is the women who are bearing the brunt of the drought and its consequences.
“We’ve had droughts here in the past but I don’t remember one as bad as this one. And look at my age!” says Dacar as he marches towards the dry community well. “We have no water left. Until recently we were still able to walk for a couple hours with our donkeys to fetch water but now there is no water anywhere and we don’t even have donkeys to carry the water back,” says Dacar, “we are facing an emergency.”
As aid from the government and humanitarian agencies fails to arrive, those left in the village, he explains, are now relying on water extracted from the roots of old cacti.
