Security situation in Mogadishu unstable: Migri

Although a large number of persons have returned to the Somali Capital City of Mogadishu during the previous years, the current security situation in the city is unstable and unpredictable, according the report of a fact-finding mission sent to Somalia and published by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

Two researchers of Migri visited Mogadishu on a fact-finding mission in the beginning of March 2020 and the report from of the mission has now been published, said Migri in a press release on Friday.

The purpose of the fact-finding mission was to gather current information about the security situation and the humanitarian conditions in Mogadishu.

During the mission, the researchers also inquired into the functioning of traffic connections from Mogadishu to the southern and central areas of the country and investigated the clan structure of the capital.

The main actor creating instability is the Islamist terrorist organisation al-Shabaab. Although the Somali regime and security forces in principle are in control of the capital, al-Shabaab has a very strong position there.

Despite large-scale security arrangements, the organisation is able to operate in all parts of the city and causes violent incidents almost on a daily basis.

Al-Shabaab’s violent attacks are mainly directed at the Somali security forces, representatives of the Somali regime, actors supporting and cooperating with the regime, and international actors, such as the AMISOM troops and the UN. However, civilians, too, are killed regularly in attacks by the organisation.

The humanitarian conditions in the capital are difficult. The most central problems have to do with rapidly fastening urbanisation, urban poverty, unemployment, and the lack of education and health services. There are also underlying health reasons for the problems: chronic cholera, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.

When considering the humanitarian conditions, the persons in the weakest position in Mogadishu are internally displaced ones. There are hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in the capital.

As they do not belong to the dominating clans of the capital, it is difficult for them to integrate into the communities in the city, and they have to settle in camps, where the living conditions are bare and difficult.

The Migri researchers managed to visit Somalia right before the coronavirus pandemic prevented all travelling. For the time being, Migri is not conducting any fact-finding missions. However, information about countries is acquired in many other ways.

Other sources include, for instance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), research institutes, and the country information services of other countries.