NASWAKI : ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SOMALIA !
Somali society is premised on a patriarchal lineage system whereby the origins of all Somalis can be traced back to a handful of Somaal patriarchs. This social organisation permeates into all aspects of Somali life. While the Somalis are one of the most ethnically homogeneous nations on the continent, attempts at unity have been hampered by the clan system and the associated principle of collective guilt and retribution. Competition for water and grazing lands has often been the source of conflict amongst the various clan families.
There are 6 main clan-families in Somalia. A clan-family is a group of clans who believe themselves to be linked by descent from a common ancestor. Within each clan-family there is a multitude of clans. A clan is a group of people believed to be descendants through males of a common ancestor. Each clan then further sub-divided into lineages.
Refugees, IDPs & Food security:
For over 30 years Somalia has been in a state of fluctuating complex emergency. Somalis have fled from war-induced famines and generalized violence, especially fighting between rival factions. At the height of fighting in 1992 up to 2 million people were displaced.
Tracking displaced populations in Somalia is particularly difficult as virtually all Somalis have been displaced by violence at least once in their life. Some 80% of Somalis live a nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle, but wars and drought have complicated and hampered these migrations in the past 10 years. During 2002 and early 2003 chaos and anarchy in Somalia worsened as fighting and violence escalated, aid agencies drawing comparisons with conditions in 1991-2. The severity of the crisis is heightened by the overall drop in donor funding - a decline of 90% since 1992 - a decline in the number of aid agencies from 200 to 61. Safety and limited access remain serious concerns. Families have increasingly moved to urban areas in search of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 250,000 displaced persons in Mogadishu live in approximately 200 camps and squatter settlements.
More than 900,000 Somalis have fled to neighbouring countries over the years. However, since 1997 a process of voluntary repatriation of refugees to north-western Somalia (Somaliland) has been underway - the only area in Somalia which has remained a haven of stability in the country. Some 430,000 Somalis now live in refugee camps outside the country, mainly in Kenya, and the remainder in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Tanzania. Little international assistance is given to them. Repatriation of an ever increasing number wishing to return from Kenya to north-east Somalia (Puntland) was hampered during 2002 by ongoing conflict, insecurity and instability in Somalia. The ongoing anarchy resulted in a marked deterioration in the humanitarian situation in many parts of the country, but particularly around Baidoa, Puntland and Mogadishu.
The first wave of refugees was caused by the the Ogaden War in 1977-1978, with the influx of Somalis and Oromo estimated to be in excess of 650,000. The first wave of displacement was caused by the reign of terror unleashed on the Marjeerteen and the Isaaq of the north in 1988. Hundreds of thousands fled from the north towards the bigger cities in the south. The civil and regional wars throughout the late 1980s produced mass population displacement. By 1989, the UNHCR estimates placed the refugee population hosted by Ethiopia and Somalia at 1.3m.
Again, thousands were forced to flee Mogadishu during the human rights abuses in Aideed-controlled areas in the late 1990s. Following the fall of Baree, approximately 1.5m Somalis were displaced and hundreds of thousands fled abroad. Since the 1990s, clan-based competition over resources has been the main cause of displacement. Constant fighting over fertile lands in the interriverine areas has meant that many minorities settled in these areas have been dispossessed of their lands. Fighting for control of commercial resources such as ports and trading posts has also affected settled communities in the south. The combination of conflict and climatic extremes has caused repeated displacements in Somalia. The enduring drought in Somaliland (2000-2004), coupled with a livestock export ban has caused mass displacement in the northern parts. In the fertile parts of Somalia, mass violence in 2004 prevented cultivation and the country faces the longest and most severe droughts since 1974.
