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 drough...