Geneva — Nearly 62,000 people have been displaced by drought since the beginning of this year, while more than six million people face hunger across five districts in Somalia, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Friday.
“We think that the total figure could be over 300,000 for the country, but we only have the data for five districts as of today,” said Brian Kelly, senior programme coordinator with IOM Somalia, speaking at a Geneva UN press conference from Nairobi.
The IOM also warned that projections indicate drought-related displacement of approximately 125,000 additional people between April and the end of June, despite rainfall forecasts.
Drought now accounts for three out of every four new displacements in the five most affected districts in Somalia, which has an estimated population of around 19 million.
