Aid Cuts Leave Vulnerable Families in Somalia’s Merka  IDP Camp Desperate

By Radio Ergo

Three hundred vulnerable displaced families living in an internal displacement camp in Merka town, in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, are pleading for urgent support after their monthly cash aid was cut in January.

Maryan Isman Ali, a single mother of 5 with a disability. She had been relying on monthly cash assistance of $70 provided by the Somali organisation Marginalized Communities Advocacy Network (MCAN).

Maryan, who lost both legs and an arm as a child after playing with unexploded ordnance, is unable to work due to her severe disability. Now, her family cannot even afford firewood for cooking.

“Sometimes we have food to cook, sometimes we don’t. It’s a constant worry. I wake up in the morning with nothing to cook. If you’re a mother, you can understand the pain of seeing your children crying from hunger, and having nothing to feed them,” she told Radio Ergo.

Fetching water is also a challenge. A jerrycan of water from the well costs 2,000 Somali shillings, but Maryan cannot go herself, and most of her children are too young to help.

“Sometimes my 10-year-old son brings water, sometimes my relatives do. But we have a serious water shortage. We also lack electricity and food — those are our biggest needs. We don’t even have a proper place to sleep; rain falls on us. We need everything. We are in urgent need of help.”

Her family lives in a small three-meter hut that doesn’t keep out the rain. They share just two latrines with over 10 other families — facilities not designed for people with disabilities.

Maryan also suffers from untreated health problems.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I get fever at night, pain in my ribs, and my condition is not good. Honestly, I need medical care, but I can’t afford it. At the hospital, you have to pay just to see a doctor, and medicine costs money. We need everything,” she said.

Abandoned by her children’s father, Maryan sees no way to send her children to school and fears for their future.

“I wish my children could go to school, but I can’t afford it — not even religious classes. I can’t even pay the teacher. I don’t even have food, so how can I pay school fees? What I ask is for my children to be educated so they can support me in the future.”

Maryan and her children fled Buulo-Mareer, about 40 kilometers from Merka, in 2022 due to fighting between Al-Shabaab and government forces. They were forced to abandon their 40 goats, many of which were lost or killed, and arrived at the camp on foot.

Another mother in the camp, Maido Abdinur Hasan, is also raising six children alone. She says she doesn’t know why the cash support ended, but now she can’t provide for her children.

“I have nothing to give my children. I can’t even cook once a day. My children cry constantly and I have nothing for them. It’s a real struggle just to get food. We are eating less than half of what we used to. The children and I are suffering. When they cry too much, the neighbors give them a bowl of food — that’s how they survive,” she said.

Maido occasionally earns two dollars washing clothes, but only when she finds work. Her shelter is a fragile structure made from scraps of fabric and sticks.

“My hut is built from trees we cut ourselves, and old materials we gathered from around the area. It’s rotten and only provides shade — it doesn’t protect us from the rain. When it rains, we are in a terrible situation.”

She was displaced from Janale in late 2023 after flooding from the Shabelle River destroyed her home and her small grocery store, which had $1,500 worth of supplies.

Abdi Osman Hasan, a data collector for MCAN, said they had reported the families’ desperate situation to ACTED, the international NGO that had funded the cash assistance.

He said many urgent cases have been registered in the camp, including children suffering from malnutrition since the aid stopped.

“We are continuing to follow up with the organization. We hope help will reach these displaced people in the camp soon,” Abdi said.