(ERGO) – Several thousand Somali families fleeing recent ethnic clashes in Oromia state in Ethiopia have crossed the border into southern Somalia to seek refuge in internal displacement camps in Gedo region.
Adan Ibrahim Hassan and his family of seven is among around 800 Somali families from Ethiopia now living in a makeshift camp in Dollow town in Gedo.
Dollow lies on the river Dawain the triangle between the Somali, Ethiopian, and Kenyan borders. A river bridge connects Ethiopia to Somalia.
Hassan, whose home is in a village 120km from Negele town, in the Guji Zone of southern Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, told Radio Ergo he had spent 2,700 birr ($95) to travel to Dollow, after fighting over ownership of villages in Oromia flared up this month between the Oromo and Somali communities.
The family is sleeping in a make-shift hut built from pieces of cloth and sticks in Qansaxley IDP camp.
“When we arrived [in mid-March], other IDPs at the camp gave us 30 kg of food comprising of sugar and rice flour but we survive on 20 litres of water daily, which is not sufficient,” Hassan told Radio Ergo.
Hassan was an agro-pastoralist. He said his livestock and farm were taken over by Oromo militias in his village, leaving him no choice but to leave.
Another recent arrival in the IDP camp in Dollow, Anab Hussein Ahmed arrived with her family on 3 March.
She fled a locality some 50km from Negele after clashes broke out.
“We trekked for nine consecutive days to Negele town, where I got a vehicle which dropped me in Dollow town,” said Anab.
“After the fighting broke out, my children and I were forced to stay indoors for another nine days before we managed to sneak out from the village at 3 am.”
The mother of nine said she had not yet been helped by aid agencies but got some small hand-outs from other IDPs following an appeal for help made by the local authorities.
“Now the food is finished and I have no alternative but to move around and beg these people to help me get something to cook for my children,” said Anab, whose husband died some years ago.
Abukar Osman Ali, an official with the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), confirmed to Radio Ergo that many people from Ethiopia had crossed the border into Somalia to live in IDP camps in Dollow.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) supported 600 households with $70 each in cash relief for the months of November and December. DRC also constructed 30 latrines and distributed 600 hygiene kits in Qansaxley, whilst the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR distributed tents and non-food items.
