GENEVA: The UN refugee agency says an estimated 315,000 Somalis will be uprooted in the course of the year because of escalating violence in the African country.
Alexander Aleinikoff, deputy UN High Commissioner for Refugees, says the humanitarian crisis in Somalia has reached "enormous proportions," with over half a million having fled to neighboring countries and around 1.4 million displaced inside Somalia.
He said Wednesday the agency is bracing for a new wave of displacement and is asking donors for $38.4 million to provide basic services to those in need.
Islamist insurgents have stepped up violence in their attempt to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and now control large parts of the impoverished country’s center and south.
