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Why did refugees leave Somalia?
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- Anonymous9 years agoFavorite Answer
The 1977-78 Ogaden War caused a massive influx of Somalis who had been living in eastern Ethiopia (and to a lesser extent from other areas) into Somalia. Most refugees were ethnic Somalis, but there were also many Oromo, an ethnic group that resided primarily in Ethiopia. The Somali government appealed for help to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in September 1979, but UNHCR did not initiate requests for international aid until March 1980.
To sustain the refugee population even at a low level required regular contributions from other countries, an adequate and competently managed distribution system and, if possible, some contribution by the refugees themselves to their own subsistence. In April 1981, Somalia's Ministry of National Planning and Jubba Valley Development issued its Short- and Long-Term Programme for Refugees detailing projected needs and proposals, all of which required international support in various forms--money, food, medical supplies, and foreign staff, among others. When the program was published, overall responsibility for refugees lay with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and its National Refugee Commission. Other ministries, including those of health and education, had responsibility for specific projects. By 1990 many ministries had special divisions or sections devoted to refugee matters. However, as noted earlier, by mid-1991 government ministries had ceased functioning.
Age and sex composition, camp conditions, and refugee needs remained roughly constant until 1988, when the civil war, particularly in the north, produced a new and massive wave of refugees. This time the refugees went from Somalia to Ethiopia, where a large number of displaced northerners, mainly members of the Isaaq clan-family fleeing the violence and persecution from the Somali Army's "pacification" campaigns, sought sanctuary in Ethiopia's eastern province, Harerge Kifle Hager. The new wave of asylum- seekers almost doubled the number of displaced persons in the region. According to the UNHCR, Ethiopia and Somalia between them hosted in 1989 a refugee population of about 1.3 million. Nearly 960,000 of the total were ethnic Somalis. Somalia hosted 600,000 refugees, of whom nearly 80 percent were ethnic Somalis from Harerge, Ogaden, Bale, and Borena regions. The remaining 20 percent were Oromo, the largest ethnic group in the Horn of Africa, from Harerge, Bale, and Borena regions.
Source(s): http://countrystudies.us/somalia/54.htm - 9 years ago
Because there has been a civil war since the mid 1990s (It is still going on). If you have ever seen the movie "Black Hawk Down" it takes place in Somalia during said war.
- Anonymous9 years ago
Somalia has been torn by civil war for many years, with each side performing mass slaughters, often on innocent people, but simply based on them belonging to a certain tribe. Refuges left, either from direct fear of death for themselves and their families, or because they wanted to live somewhere in peace.
- 4 years ago
conflict, affliction, starvation. All great countries upward push from the ashes nevertheless so i'm specific Somalia would be no distinctive. removing Al Shabab and Al Qaeda's impression may well be a initiate.
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- Anonymous9 years ago
Al-Shabaab, anarchy, civil war, famine, etc.
- Anonymous9 years ago
it`s forever been a war zone
- Anonymous9 years ago
its a crappy country thats y