Somalia's Al Shabab Islamists are on the run

A government divided against itself at war time is never a good thing. Yet Somalia’s neighbors seem determined to create an overall African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping force of up to 17,700 fighters within the next few months, both to support the Somali government, and to expel what they see as a common terrorist threat of Al Shabab.

Rooting out militant groups may be seen as crucial to regional security by Somalia’s neighbors, but finding a political solution for Somalia is also seen as the only way to end what is most certainly the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

At present, more than 1.85 million Somalis have received food assistance from the UN’s World Food Program, and at least an equal number of Somalis are thought to be in need during what is the worst famine in more than 20 years. 

An additional 500,000 Somalis receive food assistance in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps. War prevents many of these people from remaining at home, planting crops, raising livestock, and breaking themselves from dependence on foreign aid.

Adding to the burden

The taint of terrorism – Al Shabab claims to have links with Al Qaeda – has added an even bigger burden.

US-based banks have been forced to halt the practice of sending remittances from diaspora Somalis back home to their relatives in Somalia, out of fear that some of that money may end up in the hands of Al Shabab. The problem, US law enforcement agencies say, is that the method for sending money – a traditional money transfer system called “hawala” – is difficult to monitor, and is often used by terror groups. Aid groups argue that stopping the flow of remittances – money donations sent by expatriate Somalis to their relatives – during a humanitarian crisis will hit civilians the hardest.

Oxfam America’s Shannon Scribner said in a statement that the US government should allow remittances to continue.

"It is estimated that $100m in remittances goes to Somalia from the US every year. This is the worst time for this service to stop. Any gaps with remittance flows in the middle of the famine could be disastrous," said Scribner.

Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert and associate professor at Davidson College, says the famine in Somalia would have been “much worse” if Somali families living abroad didn’t have the ability to send home money to keep relatives alive.

“The 2011 famine in Somalia would have been far worse had it not been for the extraordinary mobilization of remittances sent by the Somali Diaspora to both their extended families and to local charities -- and all those remittances were sent through the hawala system,” Mr. Menkhaus said in the joint statement with Oxfam.

It's a complicated mess, to be sure, but 20 years of civil war in Somalia should be enough evidence that ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away. 

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