Dozens of displaced families living at the former British Embassy compound in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district are being forced to evacuate the building by businessmen claiming its ownership. About 150 families, who fled from their original homes in southern regions due to conflict, drought and famine, have been living in the compound for the past two decades.
A widowed mother of several children, Fadumo Aweys Abdi, said they had been given 20 days to leave the compound otherwise they would be removed by force. “We have been living here our whole life and we don’t have anywhere else to go,” Abdi told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
She said she did not have money to rent a house, as getting food for her children was already a challenge for her.
“Rental houses are very expensive and we have no way of paying rent,” said Abdi.
Rents have been going up since the withdrawal of Al-Shabab from the capital three years ago. The return of disapora Somalis has increased housing demand, leading to mass evictions of displaced people living in government and privately owned buildings in the city.
However, Ahmed Osman Dhore, the chairman of Hamarweyne district, said he only became aware of the situation surrounding the former British Embassy compound after hearing a Radio Ergo report. “The land is owned by the Somali government and there are no official plans to evacuate IDPs from it,” Dhore told Radio Ergo’s local reporter on Tuesday.
Dhore described the business people claiming ownership of the land as ‘thugs’ who have no legal documents to force IDPs out. “I haven’t visit the scene yet, but we are planning to act immediately to stop any forcible evictions of IDPs,” he added.
