Afgooye Corridor Has Become the Capital of Somalia's Displaced

Alysha Atma Salem-News.com

African Affairs Correspondent
Oct04, 2010
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(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Lying north-west of the Somalia capital, Modadishu, Afgooye corridor has become home to an increasingly number of internally displaced people (IDP). Amid the deteriorating situation in the city, many are fleeing to outside areas, UNHCR has noted a significant growth in the numbers of people seeking refuge in recent weeks.
Due to the difficult security situation and lack of access, UNHCR has been utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery in an effort to assess the humanitarian conditions within Somalia. The satellite images give the ability to identify and map individual buildings and temporary shelters, indicating there are 91,397 temporary shelters and 15,495 permanent ones within the area.
“Following a new assessment we have revised upwards our estimate of the number of people in the Afgooye corridor to 410,000. Our previous estimate, as of September 2009, put the number at 366,000. In addition to those displaced in Afgooye, we estimate there are 55,000 people in Dayniile, 15,200 in the Bal’cad corridor and 7,260 in Kax Shiiqaal. Mogadishu’s displaced population is harder to be precise about, but we estimate there are 372,000 IDPs within the capital”, a UNHCR spokesman told Salem-News.com.
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