Somalia, “Africa’s most failing state” living with war with 15,000 child soldiers

The Federal Republic of Somalia is a country located in the so-called Horn of Africa, one of the most dangerous areas in the world. Its neighbors are Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. But this small country is considered the “Africa’s most failing state“.

Political instability, famine, droughts and terrorism they are commonplace. Somalia has years of wars and anarchy on its back and after so much time fighting the country has split into small independent states with no ruling power.

In 2004, an agreement was reached to form a transitional government and unify the country. In 2012, a new Provisional Constitution was approved to govern it. However, a local disorder and chaos it remained normal. For this and for the ugly economic situation the terrorism.

Mogadishu: child soldiers

This country was colonized by the French, Italians and British. He also had a fierce war with Ethiopia between 1964 and 1987 on Ogaden’s demands for autonomy. This led part of the north to self-declare in 1991 Independent. From there, the unity in this country is gone forever.

Your capital, Mogadishu, is the most populous city in the country. It is divided by a line that separates the north from the south, guarded by several tribes among which stand out 15 thousand child soldiers. These guys, called “The bandits“They are between 9 and 15 years old and leave school to wage a war that is not theirs.

This city is a constant target of terrorist attacks from the jihadist group Al Shabab. According to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, occupies the fifth place in a list of cities most dangerous in the world. This work, carried out in 2017, is a study that investigates homicide rates, terrorist attacks and the widespread increase in violence in every city.

Jihadist terrorism

It should be noted that in just 4 years (2014-2017), 669 attacks in this city. For its part, the “federal government” cannot leave the capital. Apart from that, they lose all authority. What generates a anarchy difficult to solve and quite complex.

Somaliland, the northern region which declared itself independent, was joined by the intervention of neighboring countries (Kenya, Ethiopia Yes Burundi) What invaded regions of the country to expel an Islamist coalition, but later they found themselves with territorial control of certain sectors.

Then a jihadist group appeared (Muslim fundamentalists who defend the armed struggle) which took control of almost all sure of Country and rural roads. This group, called Al ShababThis is what most of the attacks are attributed to and also a strong link with Al Qaeda.

Refugee crisis

Now a state with terrorism, strong internal political divisions, famine, one of the worst droughts of its history and an isolated capital of the country: where are we going to live?

Due to the critical living conditions in the country, the the somalis flee to the neighbors Kenya Yes Ethiopia. They have no other way out, civil conflicts force them to escape. The number of refugees has increased dramatically in recent years.

Dadaab camp in Kenya is a complex of three settlements and currently the camp of refugees the largest in the world. It was built to house 90 thousand people but they live more than 200,000. It is the main destination for Somali refugees, although many people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo also travel there.

The current government

The country gained independence from Italy and the United Kingdom in 1960. Six years later, a Rebellion, the military regime of Siad Barre, which lasted until 1991. After the overthrow of the government de facto the disorder that prevails until today has arrived.

Somalia plunged into chaos and the country was divided by strongholds of rival clans. There was no government that controls the country as a whole. The current president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed He took office in 2017 with campaign promises based on nationalism, the fight against hunger and terrorism. But none of this has been accomplished.

His government, backed by international forces, was due to end on February 8, but parliament passed a law to to deploy themselves for two years pending the holding of elections. The opposition will mad and the electoral stalemate generated new armed conflicts in the capital.

Humanitarian famine emergency

The five semi-autonomous states did not agree to hold the election and it seems there is no north so far. Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, there are areas without electricity, water or telephone. About 600 thousand people live in the city, medicine is very poor and it is estimated that there are five drugs per 100,000 inhabitants.

Doctors Without Borders he was doing work in the area, but had to be careful not to be attacked by rebels. The life expectancy is 50 years in the country. And due to the lack of livelihoods and clean water, the humanitarian emergency for famine. This means that two adults or four children in every 10,000 inhabitants die every day and one third of children suffer from severe malnutrition.