(ERGO) – Dozens of families forcibly evicted from an internal displacement camp near Baidoa, southern Somalia’s Bay region, have had their property and sources of income violently torn away from them.

The landowners, who had allowed the families to settle there in the first place, suddenly ordered them to leave Weel-eyle camp on 1 September because they had sold the land for development.

The 263 families are now squatting with host families in Bula-toosi and Toos-weyne IDP camps in Baidoa. The eviction has deprived them of the small businesses they had built as sources of income.

Weel-eye camp had also given them access to free water, healthcare, and education services that had been developed on the site.

Among those evicted is Nur Hassan Mohamed, whose family of eight now lives with relatives in Toos-weyne camp.

“Some days we get food, some days we don’t. If we have dinner, we skip breakfast. The family that hosts us sometimes shares their meals, but it’s never enough for my big family. We have no choice, we’re just suffering,” he said.

Nur’s small grocery stall, where he sold vegetables and household goods, was demolished during the eviction. He used to earn $5-6 a day, enough to cover his family’s basic needs.

He has no means to restart his business. Renting a small shop in town costs at least $50, which he cannot afford. He says he feels hopeless.

He started his business with $100 saved from aid that his family received from World Vision in 2024. In the violent eviction, he lost stock worth about $500.

“In the camp we had a decent life. I had my regular customers among the camp residents. What I earned daily was enough to meet my children’s needs. Now life has become extremely difficult,” he said.

They depend now on a single jerrycan of water a day, donated by their host family. Buying this amount of water from a private borehole near the camp costs $0.15, which he can’t afford.

His family used to get free water from a reservoir installed two years ago by Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Weel-eyle camp. Their two huts were also destroyed.

“Here we have no proper shelter. The family hosting us lives in a small one-room hut that can’t accommodate all of us. Sometimes they let the children sleep inside, and we adults sleep outside. It’s a miserable life,” he said.

Nur’s family fled from Dinsor town in 2022, after drought killed 100 of their livestock and dried up their three-hectare farm, where they grew peas, sorghum, and maize.

The families evicted from Weel-eyle include some living with disabilities. Yusuf Hussein Bashir, who is blind, said water scarcity is the most difficult challenge his family faces now.

He cannot afford the 3,000 Somali shillings ($0.15) per jerrycan charged by private water vendors. The nearest free well is three kilometres away, but they have no transport to fetch water.

“In Weel-eyle we used to get four to five jerrycans of water free every day. Now my wife walks long distances to fetch one jerrycan, which doesn’t meet the needs of the whole family,” he said.

Yusuf’s wife’s small shop was also destroyed. It was their only source of income. Some remaining goods were carried away on her back, and she now moves from house to house selling them. On good days she makes about one dollar, enough for firewood; on bad days, they go hungry.

His six children, the youngest only one-year-old, are hungry and he can’t satisfy their food needs. He is also worried about a $500 debt he owes suppliers for the goods his wife used to sell.

“The person I owe keeps calling, asking for the money. I don’t know how to repay him. It’s causing me a lot of stress,” he said.

In Weel-eyle, they used to receive vaccinations, nutritional biscuits, and maternal care. None of those services are available in Boola-toosi camp.

Two of his children have dropped out of the free primary school in the camp, which was supported by Save the Children.

His family was originally displaced from Ufurow, 45 km from Baidoa, in 2023, after three failed rainy seasons destroyed their four-hectare farm.

Families had lived in Weel-eyle since 2021, without paying any rent. The camp’s chairman, Abdullahi Aden Jibaar, told Radio Ergo that the eviction was carried out without notice, whilst the landowners claimed they were selling the land.

“All their houses, made of sticks and cloth, were destroyed, along with their small shops, school, and health centre,” Abdullahi said.

“These people had access to free water, education, and healthcare in the camp. Now they are homeless, without toilets or medical care, and are living in extreme heat with no clean water. Among them are people with disabilities who cannot afford to buy water. They urgently need humanitarian assistance and secure land to settle permanently,” he added.

Most of the evicted families are now living on privately owned open land, putting them at risk of further displacement in future.

Source: Radio Ergo