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Abstract
South–central Somalia is the epicentre of one of the worst displacement situations in the world in terms of both the numbers of people affected and the dire conditions in which many are living. Key aspects of Somali displacement – the protracted and unresolved nature of much displacement, the contested nature of the places where people seek refuge, and the scale and significance of movement – unsettle common assumptions about internal displacement, and point to the importance of understanding the situation of displaced people at destination. Based on primary research with displaced people, political, aid and business actors, as well as secondary sources, this paper highlights the key forces and frameworks which mediate the situation of displaced people. The relevance of local social relations, macro-political authorities and the international humanitarian regime are examined, including how these structures articulate with each other. The paper concludes that much more research is needed to explore the perspectives of displaced people themselves, and to understand the impact of displacement in the Somali territories.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks are due to the anonymous individuals who shared their experiences and insights in interviews and focus groups. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission's MICROCON research programme funded the two periods of fieldwork; and the SOAS Department of Development Studies, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Oxford University's Refugee Studies Centre provided institutional support. I am grateful for feedback from Nina Birkeland, Cathrine Brun, Cindy Horst, Samira Hassan Ahmed, Markus Hoehne, Ayan Mahamoud, Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, Siham Riyale, Heloise Ruaudel and Roger Zetter, as well as the two anonymous reviewers. Thanks to UNHCR Somalia for permission to use the map in .
Notes
1. For other findings from this research, carried out in collaboration with local assistants, see Lindley, “Leaving Mogadishu” and “Between a Protracted and a Crisis Situation.” Lindley and Haslie, “Unlocking Protracted Displacement,” presented a preliminary version of the material in this paper. While secondary sources are referenced, primary research is drawn on throughout the paper and only referenced when source is particularly relevant.
2. Malkki, “National Geographic,” 31.
3. Malkki, “National Geographic,” 31.
4. Malkki, “National Geographic,” 31.
5. Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC). IASC Framework on Durable Solutions.
6. Collinson, “Emergent Status,” 43; Ferris and Birkeland, “Local Integration of Internally Displaced Persons.”
7. For example, Collinson, “Emergent Status.”
8. For example, Lubkemann, Culture in Chaos.
9. For example, Brun, “Hospitality.”
10. Ferris and Birkeland, “Local Integration of Internally Displaced Persons.”
11. Ferris and Birkeland, “Local Integration of Internally Displaced Persons.”
12. Berry and Reddy, “Safety with dignity.”
13. Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC). IASC Framework on Durable Solutions.
14. Collinson, “Emergent Status.”
15. Loescher et al., “Protracted Refugee Situations.”
16. UNHCR, “Total IDPs by Region”; Edwards, “Somali Refugee Population.”
17. The major Somali clan families of nomadic pastoralist traditions are the Darod, Hawiye, Dir and Isaq. The Digil/Mirifle clans (which include the Rahanweyn) are traditionally agriculturalists. There are also many minority groups in the south, including, amongst others, the Bantu, Baijuni and Bravanese.
18. Hoehne, “Political Representation in Somalia.”
19. Hoehne, “Political Representation in Somalia.”
20. Hoehne, “Political Representation in Somalia.”
21. Hoehne, “Political Representation in Somalia.”
22. Hoehne, “Political Identity.”
23. Majid and McDowell, “Hidden Dimensions of the Somalia Famine.”
24. Menkhaus, “Warlords and Landlords”; Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions.
25. Menkhaus, “Warlords and Landlords”; Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection.”
26. Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions, 1.
27. Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions, 1.
28. IRIN, “Afgoye IDPs.”
29. Vesperini, “Rapists, Hunger and Hyenas.”
30. Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection”; IDMC, Displacement and Worsening Humanitarian Situation.
31. Sources for this paragraph include Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection”; IDMC, “Somalia”; and author's interviews.
32. Majid and McDowell, “Hidden Dimensions of the Somalia Famine.”
33. Interview with a Somali NGO worker, April 2011.
34. Abdi Elmi, Understanding the Somalia Conflagration.
35. Hammond et al., Cash and Compassion.
36. Salad, Assessment Report 2011.
37. Collinson, “Emergent Status.”
38. Lindley, “Leaving Mogadishu.”
39. IDMC, “Somalia.”
40. Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions; IASC Somalia, “Protection Cluster Update.”
41. There are no references to displaced people, other than refugees and asylum-seekers. Federal Republic of Somalia, Draft Constitution; Abdi Elmi, “Revisiting the UN-Controlled Constitution-Making Process for Somalia.”
42. Abebe, “Al-Shabaab's Responsibility.”
43. Abdi Elmi, Understanding the Somalia Conflagration; Majid and McDowell, “Hidden Dimensions of the Somalia Famine.”
44. Grubeck, Civilian Harm in Somalia; Amnesty International, In the Line of Fire.
45. Personal correspondence with Somali media contacts, January, 20 and 24.
46. Osman, “Al Qaida targets Somali drought victims.”
47. Grubeck, Civilian Harm in Somalia.
48. With thanks to Markus Hoehne.
49. Puntland Government of Somalia, Puntland Policy Guidelines on Displacement.
50. IDMC, Displacement and Worsening Humanitarian Situation.
51. IRIN, “Somalia: Somaliland, Puntland act on migrants, IDPs.”
52. Hoehne, “Political identity.”
53. Anderson, Imagined Communities.
54. Hoehne, “Political identity”; personal communication with a Somaliland lawyer, January 12, 2013.
55. Hoehne, “Political identity.”
56. This was before these were widely issued.
57. Focus group with local workers in Hargeisa, July 2008.
58. UNHCR, “Total IDPs by Region.”
59. Lindley, “Seeking refuge”; IRIN, “Somalia: Somaliland, Puntland act on migrants, IDPs.”
60. Personal communication with a research assistant in Hargeisa, January 20, 2012.
61. Although subsequent investigations indicated a combination of non-Somaliland and ‘home-grown’ involvement.
62. Bradbury, “Normalising the Crisis in Africa.”
63. UNHCR, “Somalia: Humanitarian Access vs. Total IDPs.”
64. See http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/reports/wfp251747.pdf; Hasan, “Somaliland: Ministers Approve 2013 Annual Budget.”
65. Polastro et al., IASC Evaluation.
66. Jaspars and Maxwell, Targeting in Complex Emergencies; Polastro et al., IASC Evaluation.
67. Jaspars and Maxwell, Targeting in Complex Emergencies.
68. Mooney, “Concept of Internal Displacement.”
69. Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection”; Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions.
70. Bernard and Grayson, “Insecurity by Default.”
71. Bradbury, “State-Building, Counter-Terrorism and Licensing Humanitarianism,” i.e. responding only to needs which are feasible to address.
72. Hammond and Vaughan Lee, “Humanitarian Space in Somalia.”
73. Polastro et al. “IASC Evaluation”.
74. Jaspars and Maxwell, Targeting in Complex Emergencies, 7; Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection.”
75. Narbeth and McClean, “Livelihoods and Protection.”
76. Yarnell, Gatekeepers and Evictions.
77. Hammond and Vaughan Lee, “Humanitarian Space in Somalia.”
78. Bradbury, “State-Building, Counter-Terrorism and Licensing Humanitarianism”; Hammond and Vaughan Lee, “Humanitarian Space in Somalia.”
79. Tyler, “Protection and Livelihoods in Somalia.”
80. Hammond and Vaughan Lee, “Humanitarian Space in Somalia.”
81. Lazzarini, “Assistance and Protection.”
82. Interview with an NGO worker, April 2011.
83. Maletta, “Somalia,” 3. For example, following major criticisms, AMISOM is widely thought to have taken important steps towards reducing harm to civilians in its operations, particularly through the restriction of indiscriminate fire; Grubeck Civilian Harm in Somalia.
84. Brun, “Hospitality,” 351.
85. Malkki, “Speechless Emissaries,” 377.
86. The most notable being Horst's seminal work, Transnational Nomads.