GENEVA, February 27 (UNHCR) – More than 40,000 internally displaced people have returned to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in the last six weeks despite heavy fighting that has
caused many civilian casualties.The majority of the returnees are from Hiraan, Mudug, Galgaduud and Lower and Middle Shabelle in Somalia's southern and central regions, which are experiencing
a combination of renewed conflict and severe drought, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told journalists in Geneva.Many IDPs are returning as complete families but others are heads of households who
have left their relatives behind in settlements for the internally displaced while they check the conditions of their properties.They are returning to Hodan, Wardhiigleey, Yaaqshiid and
Heliwaa neighbourhoods in north Mogadishu that were devastated by two years of war and left virtually empty. "The displaced have lost everything and are returning to ruined homes and livelihoods,"
Redmond said.The latest returns are taking place at time when Mogadishu is experiencing some of the heaviest fighting in recent months, resulting in many civilian causalities and renewed
displacement."We are in the process of assessing the scale and magnitude of the latest displacement," Redmond said. "UNHCR is not encouraging returns to Mogadishu at this juncture, as the
security situation is volatile and the conditions are certainly not conducive," he added.Access to basic services in Mogadishu is limited, with very few international agencies present on the
ground because of insecurity. Nevertheless, the UN refugee agency is preparing to help returnees or those who wish to return in the near future, in the hope that the security situation will
improve.The total number of Somalis displaced within their own country is a staggering 1.3 million. Last year alone, some 100,000 Somalis sought refuge in the neighbouring countries of Kenya,
Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. The number of Somali refugees in asylum countries now stands at 438,000.
An inmigrant of Ghana holds a bag on his head during a harvest at a farm in Palos de la Frontera, southwest Spain February 27, 2009. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo (SPAIN) ...
