ReliefWeb

This study titled ‘I want my land. You have to go’ comprehensively explores why forced evictions in Baidoa continue to thrive; and then takes a deep-dive into the factors that are fuelling, promoting, and sustaining the eviction phenomenon to advance practical policy solutions to effectively address the problem at different levels.

The study aims to support the Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) work of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance and durable solutions interventions promoting and strengthening HLP rights for displacement affected communities in Baidoa.

The findings indicate that forced evictions remain among the most severe and prevalent protection threats in Somalia, representing both a cause and a multiplier of the displacement crises. Congested cities with weak urban systems struggle to cope as the complex interplay between natural hazards, climatic shocks, conflict, and insecurity drive mass displacements across the country.

Forced evictions also pose key obstacles to the attainment of durable solutions in Somalia. They undermine humanitarian and development efforts and further impinges on the self-reliance and resilience of these vulnerable and marginalised populations. Likewise, internally displaced people remain disproportionately affected across the city, particularly women and children who constitute the most vulnerable substratum of the population.

Consequently, eviction as a problematic phenomenon remains a foundational imperative to addressing forced displacement in a realistic, comprehensive, and sustainable way.

To achieve this, a critical first step is to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying intricacies. It is against this backdrop that NRC commissioned the study.