Forced migration
Leaving Mogadishu: the war on terror and displacement dynamics in the Somali regions
Somalia: what are the factors that affect displacement?
Authors:
A. Lindley (ed)
Publisher:
Microcon, 2009
This paper presents a two year qualitative micro-analysis of the causes and processes of Somalis flight from conflict in Mogadishu to relatively peaceful Somaliland. It explores how particular interactions between people, their resources and their structural contexts produce and shape the process of migration. It illuminates the micro-level human consequences of the ‘war against terror’. There is normally a tendency for scholars to stop at macro-level explanations of the causes of ‘forced migration’.
The paper seeks to find answers to why people are leaving Mogadishu and how migration occurs. It explores how people who eventually leave Mogadishu adapt to the changing structural contexts they pass through. In doing so, it employs individual interviews, focus groups, consultations and analysis of population movement tracking data. It breaks down people’s stories into embarking on the journey, route making, and experiences on the road.
The paper elicits the following findings:
- In embarking on the journey, the time between the decision to leave and departure can be relatively condensed or more drawn out between a few days, weeks or months
- Some people still in Mogadishu have in principle decided to leave but await a suitable opportunity to arise because they are constrained by lack of money or other factors
- Familiarity with potential destinations and social networks affects the speed with which people move from decision to departure
- Under route making, the wider structural environment - the geography of transport, conflict and borders - plays a key role in shaping routes taken.
- Human capabilities like familiarity with mobility, general resourcefulness, and social connections coupled with the availability of financial resources all appear to help in route making
- Considering experiences on the road, many of the participants were at their most vulnerable but travelling in groups helped reduce the costs and vulnerability.
