Building boom evictions

– The number of Somalis left homeless has surged this year as thousands who had already fled war, drought and floods were forcibly evicted from mostly makeshift homes, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said.

The aid group, in a report published yesterday, said one of the main factors driving people out of their homes was property developers requisitioning land, often without warning, during a building boom in the capital Mogadishu.

More than 200 000 Somalis, or one in 60 of the population, were forcibly evicted from their homes in January-July, more than double the number in the same period last year, the group said.

NRC said most evictions were done without due process, including without prior notice, and called on the government to address the problem by developing land policies and improving access to land for people who were forced from their homes.

Many had fled to urban areas after being displaced by natural disasters and conflict in other parts of the country.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said Somali authorities and landowners were evicting people from public and private land mainly in battle-scarred Mogadishu, which is seeing a building boom. – Reuters