AnAidWorker

After the withdrawal of the Ethiopian forces from Somalia, thousands of families are leaving their homeland and coming to Ethiopia with the hope of peace and security. According to The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more than 10,000 refugees had fled in the past 6 months and thousand are living without any food, shelter or even drinking water. Since the beginning of the year, the influx has tripled and on the average 150 people are everyday crossing the border since the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces on January 25. Most of the current refugees are fleeing Somalia, fearing retribution form Al Sabab, because they have collaborated with EDF. Also a large number of population has crossed the border fearing infighting will increase among different fractions.

UNHCR has set a registration at Dolo Ado, a bordering town in the southeastern Somalia. A campsite was selected for 20,000 people at Boqolmaya, few miles from Dolo Ado. Many humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, Oxfam and MSF have sent emergency aid material for the refugee. Unfortunately, the camp will be administered by the Government’s Administration for Refugee/Returnee Affairs (ARRA). Many in the humanitarian community think that government interference may impose restriction on the activities of aid agencies. Ethiopian government has long history of restricting Somali refugees in to a camp, depriving them from the right to work or education for children. It is also clear that Ethiopian government wants to use this opportunity to justify its invasion of Somalia.

The Aftermath of Invasion

In 2006, on the auspicious of establishing peace, the Ethiopian military, with the backing of the US, invaded Somalia, toppled the ICU government and established the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Since the beginning of the occupation, the affiliating organizations to ICU has mounted a massive armed resistance against the EDF and TFG forces, causing drastic increase in civilian casualties as well as displacing millions. An estimated 16,000 people have been killed due to the conflict and an estimated 1 million people have fled from Mogadishu alone (half of the population of the town) and settled in IDP camps in Somalia or crossed the border to Kenya or Ethiopia.

In 2008, the Ethiopian government announced the plan for withdrawal from Somali and a negotiation was started among all parties in Djibouti to from a national unity government. Some fraction of the ICU, openly denounced the negotiation and started it’s own militia for the control of territory. By the end of January 2009, all members of Ethiopian army were withdrawn from Somalia. Although a national government was formed in Djibouti, with Sheikh Sherif of ICU as the president, however, ICU’s former youth front rejected the government and declared an all out war. Since the withdrawal of EDF the fighting between groups have increased significantly for the control of territory.