HRW: Human Rights Abuses in Somalia

An international human rights organization says the forced evictions of thousands of Somalia's poorest from makeshift camps amid rebuilding efforts in the war-ravaged capital has led to "large scale human rights abuses."

Amnesty International said Friday the forced evictions in Mogadishu have "gathered pace" in recent months despite the government's failure to find an alternative safe location.

Amnesty International's Somalia researcher, Gemma Davies, said government has "a responsibility to protect this vulnerable sector of society."

Amnesty says more than 300,000 people live in settlements in the seaside capital where the international organization says Somalis are "sheltering from cyclical drought, famine and a two-decades-long armed conflict."

Davies said "it is completely unacceptable for people who have fled to the capital for protection to be forcibly evicted."

In August, an 8-year-old child and a mother of nine were killed when members of Somalia's armed forces opened fire in response to a protest by residents facing eviction.

Amnesty International has called on Somalia to halt all the evictions until "safe and adequate" alternatives in line with "obligations under international human rights law" can be provided.

Davies says now that Somalia "finally has a central government, it's high time" to focus on a durable solution for Somalia's displaced that allows them to be part of the country's reconstruction.

(2013-09-14/voanews)