

Violent evictions

It was only a few months after he was released from the hospital that we encountered Aden. The bullets had struck him in his right leg leaving him unable to walk without a cane. He spent over two months in the hospital and was discharged when he could no longer afford it.

Still living in an informal arrangement, the noticeable limp hadn’t affected his good spirits according to residents who also knew him from their hometown.

"I am thankful that I was the only one home that day, it could have been any one of my children."

Why are people being unlawfully evicted?

Land issues are the cause of many conflicts in Somalia and vital to reconciliation efforts according to countless national and regional peace conferences.

Dating back to Somalia’s independence in 1960, a long history of poor urban planning and a weak legal framework paved the way for the country’s elites to benefit from the appropriation of both public and private land. Today, displaced people are affected by competing claims of the lands they settle on and more importantly, the lack of access to public land, resulting in evictions.

"There are many layers contributing to the eviction crisis. One of the bigger issues is that displaced people don’t have documents proving that they have a right to live on the land," says Abdirisak Ahmed, NRC’s information, counselling, and legal assistance (ICLA) manager in Somalia.

Also, people who control access to land and aid – so called gatekeepers – are facilitating the process of relocating displaced people in alliance with private landowners. This is often informal, not legally binding and ambiguous.

And while the authorities in Mogadishu are committed to putting a stop to unlawful evictions, the government institutions responsible are not yet strong enough to do so – leaving displaced people in the hands of wealthy and powerful individuals.