Why Somali Herders Are Deserting Their Own Land

-

Somalian herders have never seen a drought like the one last year and the year before that. It has killed their herds of sheep, goat and even camels. There is no food, no water and literally no vegetation left for their survival






Thousands of such herders are now on the move to look for safe haven, into cities which are not even equip to receive them.

Earlier war torn, today their battle is with environmental conditions that have made survival not just difficult but impossible. Fierce and frequent droughts and floods have uprooted more than three million Somalis since 2016, according to UNHCR data that tracks internal displacement by cause. Thousands are moving from various pockets in Somalia and moving into the outskirts of cities nearby, creating pockets of migrant population sitting in shanties and makeshift settlements. These cities are already bursting on the seams with no hope to sustain the Somalian herding migrants.

Pastoral communities used to assign names to the great droughts that occurred every decade or so. As they try to ends meet, most lack skills to make a living in these cities. According to reports, Somalia has experienced two consecutive seasons of below-average rain, with a third on the way. But in 2020, it experienced flooding too. It was capped as the strongest tropical storm to hit the country ever.

Harvests have failed and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned in August that hunger will worsen by year's end, with 3.5 million people in dire need. Rainfall is projected to become more erratic and extreme over Somalia in coming years, accelerating the flight to cities and stoking greater conflict over limited resources, said Lana Goral from the International Organization for Migration.


The country remains cash strapped ill equipped to take care of its suffering lot. The only saving grace is suggestions from some policymakers who have proposed relocating disaster-ravaged communities to the coast as pastoral life becomes increasingly untenable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Is Truss Government Looking At Relaxing Immigration Rules?

-
Image
UK is moving towards relaxing labor shortage norms to make up for the windfall in its crucial food industry There are plans in the UK to ease off immigration rules as the country faces issues with labour shortage and need to boost economic growth. There are plans to expand the government’s shortage occupation list in order to fill in crucial vacancies. The best way that the new PM sees is by inviting overseas workers. A range of sectors are facing labor shortage and Ms Truss has been getting requests from the various to ease off immigration restrictions to ease off the labor shortage pressures. Businesses it is told have been frustrated over the visa system for skilled workers of being unresponsive to not fill the windfall. A severe shortage in farming for example needs to be addressed. Such shortages, it seems is looking like it will badly affect food and the farming sector. The first one to be helped would be the seasonal workers’ programme. Similarly, those in dire need will nee
Read more
-
Image
Callousness of authorities have been blamed by residents whose family members have gone missing while transiting illegally through Tunisia  Residents of Zarzis in southern Tunisia has extremely angry. They are blaming authorities for having buried drowned migrants from the coastal city without the informing families or finding out their whereabouts. Blockades and tyre burning has been their way of revolting and retaliating in the Medenine governorate. A boat carrying migrants to Europe went missing on the September 21. It was carrying as many as 18 people. Those who perished included a child as well. They all came from Zarzis, a city of 78,000 residents known as a crossing point for both Tunisian and Sub-Saharan African migrants. Authorities have been accused of negligence in initial attempts to look for the missing boat — even thwarting independent efforts with misinformation — and subsequently not putting enough effort into the search for bodies. This was compounded by bodies be
Read more

Iranian President Refuses Interview To CNN Reporter In The US

-
Image
Iranian President has to be interviewed but the famous Christiane Amanpour might not be doing this, if she doesn't wear a head scarf The woman is known to have interviewed the top and the best in the world. Political leaders vouch for her preciseness and accuracy of reporting and high journalistic standards. The international CNN anchor  Christiane Amanpour has however not received very great response when she has had the chance to interview the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi. She has been asked to wear a head gear (cover her head in the conventional manner) before she decides to interview the President.  Visiting the United Nations with other world leaders this week, President Raisi was to speak with Amanpour, she said, amid the uprising back home. Posting about the incident on twitter, she said that it was going to be his first interview on U.S. soil. A whole lot of preparation had been done to ensure the interview went ahead well. But as Amanpour gently refused to wear a head
Read more