United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1998 - Somalia, 1 January 1998, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8bd20.html [accessed 5 June 2023]
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More than 465,000 Somalis were refugees at the end of 1997: an estimated 240,000 in Ethiopia, 150,000 in Kenya, 53,000 in Yemen, 20,000 in Djibouti, and 3,000 in Eritrea. An estimated 200,000 Somalis were internally displaced. Modest numbers of Somali refugees repatriated during 1997. Violence and political instability continued to discourage most refugees from returning, and massive floods late in the year posed an additional obstacle to repatriation. USCR conducted a site visit to northern Somalia during the year. Pre-1997 Events Civil war and factional fighting have embroiled Somalia since 1988, causing up to a half-million deaths. Conditions were particularly severe during 1991-92, when violence and widespread population displacement produced famine. At the peak of Somalia's upheaval in 1992, more than 800,000 Somalis were refugees in neighboring countries, and as many as 2 million people were internally displaced. Large numbers gradually returned to their home areas during 1993-95, despite sporadic violence and new population flight in some regions. Only 5,000 repatriated in 1996. Security concerns prevented many aid agencies from operating in Somalia. Agencies that managed to conduct humanitarian programs in some areas faced regular threats of robberies, kidnappings, and temporary evacuations. Politics and Violence in 1997 Most of Somalia was relatively calm, but pockets of violence persisted in the capital, Mogadishu, and in several other areas in the south and north. Rival clans in Mogadishu occasionally shelled civilian neighborhoods. Clan battles tended to kill scores of people at a time, far fewer than the massive death tolls witnessed several years earlier. Many areas that largely escaped violence remained tense. A series of peace negotiations, reconciliation conferences, and various political declarations signed by rival clans seemed to bring the country to the brink of a political settlement during the year, but ultimately no national government materialized and violent skirmishes continued. Political leaders in northern Somalia continued to proclaim their independence from the rest of the country and operated their own government in the northern capital, Hargeisa. Northern Somalia, known as Somaliland, conducted its own election early in the year. Somaliland leaders temporarily threatened to expel UN agencies and NGOs who failed to acknowledge the sovereign independence of Somaliland. Small numbers of refugees fled Somalia during the year. Some 35 Somalis reportedly died while fleeing by boat to Yemen when they were forced to jump overboard. Repatriation of Somali Refugees UNHCR originally hoped to repatriate nearly 140,000 Somali refugees during 1997. The majority were expected to return to their homes in Somaliland. Somaliland's president warned against a massive return, however. "We are not strong enough, our economy is not strong enough, and the country is not yet safe enough for these people to return," he said in June. He predicted that many returnees would instantly become internally displaced. Somaliland leaders and UNHCR agreed to a smaller but still ambitious goal of 40,000 repatriations to northern Somalia in 1997, and 60,000 in 1998. UNHCR set a revised target of 50,000 repatriations to the entire country for 1997. Even the revised repatriation targets proved unrealistic. About 10,000 refugees repatriated from Ethiopia to Somaliland between February and July as part of a pilot return program. Only 1,000 additional refugees repatriated to Somaliland later in the year, in December. About 1,000 refugees returned to other parts of Somalia. A combined total of 12,000 refugees repatriated to all parts of Somalia, including Somaliland, throughout the year. Several factors caused the meager return. Many Somali refugees in asylum countries appeared to be well-informed about difficult conditions in Somalia. The lack of humanitarian programs in returnee areas discouraged many refugees from repatriating, according to UNHCR. UNHCR's reintegration programs were weakened by the agency's staff shortages in Somaliland and the absence of a central government in Mogadishu. Floods in southern Somalia also delayed planned returns. Authorities in Somaliland and Djibouti laid the groundwork for future repatriation when they signed a memorandum of understanding in October to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees from Djibouti. Virtually no repatriation occurred immediately from Djibouti, however, due to a "lack of basic infrastructure in potential returnee areas...and the presence of landmines," UNHCR reported. Uncertainty over land distribution also impeded repatriation to parts of Somaliland, according to UNHCR. Humanitarian Conditions The country's combination of violence, displacement, drought, and floods made approximately 800,000 Somalis dependent on emergency food aid during the year. The needy population included displaced persons, recently returned refugees, and others whose home areas were disrupted by the country's chaos. Aid workers reported growing signs of malnutrition in some areas in August. WFP characterized the food shortage in southern Somalia as "critical." Continued closure of the Mogadishu port hampered relief efforts, as did security concerns. UN workers operated under stringent travel restrictions, and security incidents prevented large-scale relief programs. An international staff member of MSF was killed by gunmen in June. Two international aid workers were kidnapped in July. Two Somali relief workers were killed in August. Combatants fired on a UNICEF plane in September. In the final two months of the year, seven expatriate NGO workers were temporarily abducted in two incidents. Massive flooding in southern Somalia late in the year worsened humanitarian conditions. Some 1,800 persons reportedly died and more than 200,000 were made homeless by the flooding, which afflicted the country's most fertile agricultural areas in the south. USCR's estimate of 200,000 persons who remained internally displaced due to political instability does not include those who left their homes because of floods.
