Gimme Shelter

Frontline News

© UNHCR/B. Bannon
A displaced woman with her child trying to escape renewed fighting in the Somali capital. Most of those leaving Mogadishu have sought safety in surrounding provinces and are in dire need of assistance.

"She could not stand the constant sound of gunfire anymore"

After months of violent confrontations between government forces and armed opposition groups, Sadiyo Hussein Haji, 39, her elderly mother and six children could not stand it anymore. In May 2009, they left Mogadishu. “My mother is ailing and she could not stand the constant sound of gunfire. The children also had difficulties sleeping at night,” she says.

During the conflict, her husband and two children, a girl aged 14 and a 16-year-old boy, went missing. “We stayed behind in our house for five days waiting to see whether they would return,” recalls Sadiyo. Unfortunately none of the missing family members showed up and Sadiyo decided to leave. Being so poor, she could not afford to hire a minibus for her family. After two days of walking, they managed to reach a relatively safe place in a settlement for internally displaced people.

But things were not easy in Ceelasha settlement. She had no money to rent a place to live and buy food. “We were reduced to begging. My mother was given a small shelter because of her poor health.” Fortunately, the family has recently been resettled to a recently constructed camp hosting new arrivals.