What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?

People who fled from 1991 left homes, farms, savings, papers and graves, and many found strangers living in their houses when they came back. In 2014 about 80% of cases in Mogadishu's Supreme Court were about land, and there is still no national law for giving property back (RVI and HIPS, Land Matters in Mogadishu, 2017; HIPS, 2023).

This page sets out what was left, what happened to it, and what has come back. It names no one to blame. It gives each source's own words and numbers.

How fast did people have to leave?

Fighting reached Mogadishu in the last days of 1990, and families packed what they could carry and fled (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 54). Title deeds were often left behind or lost on the road, the same study says (RVI and HIPS, 2017). Some owners left houses with relatives or friends to look after them (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

The study says the flight of early 1991 "affected all clans" and that millions of Somalis left their homes (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 42). It says Mogadishu saw the largest exodus, with the heaviest impact on the Darood clan family, the Reer Hamar and other minority groups (RVI and HIPS, 2017). People arriving from the countryside then moved into empty government buildings and homes, the study records (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

For the routes, camps and waves of leaving, see Why and how Somalis left.

What happened to the homes people left?

Many homes were taken over by new occupants, and some occupants later sold them on (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 54). When owners return, the person living there usually challenges the claim, and a long, costly process follows (RVI and HIPS, 2017). The study notes that Somali law has no precedent for squatters' rights, though occupants often claim them (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 55).

Occupants give several reasons, the study records. Some say they have lived there for 25 years without challenge (RVI and HIPS, 2017). Others say their repairs cost more than the house was worth (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

Some owners agreed deals from the mid-1990s. With elders, they paid occupants a fee for "protecting and maintaining the property" in return for getting it back (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 52). The study says this worked only for a minority, and many who regained homes then sold them (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

How many property disputes are there?

An estimated 80% of cases heard in Mogadishu's Supreme Court during 2014 were about land (RVI and HIPS, 2017). A Benadir land disputes committee registered about 200 new disputes in its first three months, then stopped taking cases to clear its backlog (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 71). Scholar Kenneth Menkhaus told Reuters in 2017 there were "tens of thousands" of land disputes, some dating to the 1970s (Reuters via Arab News, 12 October 2017).

A 2019 IIED study lists four drivers of Mogadishu land prices, which it says rose perhaps tenfold since 2012 (IIED, 2019):

• unclear ownership and rules;
• private capture of public land;
• displaced families arriving;
• returnees, including diaspora Somalis, reclaiming property.

The same study says customary law favours majority clans, making it hard for minority clans and ethnic groups to assert rights (IIED, 2019).

What happened to the property papers?

From the 1960s until 1991, Mogadishu had a land registry covering up to 70% of the city's land (IIED, 2019). When the city fell into conflict, former Land Department staff took the registers and maps with them (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 59). The main register is now held by a Somali living in Sweden, who verifies deeds for a fee through an office in Mogadishu (IIED, 2019; RVI and HIPS, 2017).

Forged deeds are common. A section of Bakaara Market known as Abdalla Shideye produced forged documents, including title deeds, until the regional administration banned them in 2016 (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 59). The Benadir Regional Court has heard cases of people abroad selling copies of one deed to several buyers (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

Later governments added new layers. Deeds issued in Hodan district in 2001, known as "Arta deeds", were contested when an owner with older deeds returned (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 60). Elders settled it, with residents paying the owner a sum close to the original price (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

What other records were lost?

Somalia's civil registration system "collapsed in 1991", leading to "widespread destruction of records", says the national ID authority (NIRA, ID4Africa 2026). Today only 3% of children under five have had their births registered, UNICEF reports (UNICEF Somalia, 10 August 2025). See National ID (NIRA) and Birth records.

Historian Dr Safia Aidid speaks of "the deterioration, loss, and looting of Somalia's archives and artefacts" (Geeska, 5 August 2025). Archivist Abdimalik Ali Warsame calls the destruction of the national archives a "bibliocaust" (Geeska, 2025).

• National Museum: closed for close to 30 years; most older items were "destroyed or looted"; it reopened in July 2020 (UNSOM, 31 October 2023). It held about 3,500 objects when it moved building in 1985 (UNSOM, 2023).
• Somali National University: closed by the war; the cabinet approved reopening on 26 November 2013, and it reopened on 16 August 2014 (Somali National University). The main campus was used as an AMISOM base and handed back in 2017 (Africanews, 12 July 2017).

What happened to savings and money?

The Central Bank of Somalia has not issued currency since 1991, and the country became "a de facto dollarized economy" (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2024). Most shilling notes in use were printed after 1991, with no single issuer, the Somali Bankers Association said in 2026 (Dawan Africa, 15 April 2026).

The state lost assets too. The Central Bank says it still owns land and buildings it has not regained since 1991 (Central Bank of Somalia, 2024). With the World Bank's Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, it recovered US$6,984,451 held at Intesa Sanpaolo since before 1991 (Central Bank of Somalia, 2024).

What about farms in the river valleys?

The 1975 Land Law made all land state land and required registration, which was most active in the Shabelle and Jubba valleys (IGAD Land Governance Portal). Anthropologist Catherine Besteman found titles were "disproportionately issued to newcomers" rather than settled farmers (HIPS, 2023, citing Besteman 1994). By 1988 only 0.6% of Somalia's land was registered (HIPS, 2023, citing UN-Habitat 2008).

The Norwegian Refugee Council reports conflicting claims and land grabbing along the Jubba and Shabelle rivers, often tied to missing documents (NRC, minority access to land). Farming minority groups, including Somali Bantu, were among those who moved to Mogadishu after the 1991 to 1992 famine (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 43).

What happened to graves?

In 2024 officials ordered graves exhumed at the police academy cemetery in Hamar Jajab for a planned navy and coast guard headquarters, Geeska reported (Geeska, 6 November 2025). Families paid US$20 to 25 for exhumation permits, the same report says (Geeska, 2025). The Heritage Institute also records that "the dead were exhumed from cemeteries" during land sales (HIPS, September 2025).

Who is losing homes now?

Evictions continue, mostly of displaced families. The Norwegian Refugee Council counted over 2 million people evicted across Somalia from 2017 to 2025, over 1 million of them in Mogadishu (EUAA, June 2026). In 2025, 143,548 evictions were registered in Mogadishu, 63,132 of them from government properties (EUAA, June 2026).

In a 2024 NRC survey, 89% of minority and marginalised households had been evicted or faced eviction risk (EUAA, citing NRC). In July 2025, 120 families were cleared from the Danyar camp area without notice, they told Radio Ergo (Radio Ergo, 13 October 2025).

Public buildings are being cleared and sold. The Heritage Institute says assets "reportedly sold" since 2024 include the National University campus, the Fire Brigade station and the National TV compound (HIPS, 2025). More than 90 MPs condemned the process, and three former presidents said legal and financial safeguards were ignored, the institute records (HIPS, 2025). In February 2026 the education minister ordered residents off university land for a campus rebuild (SONNA, 9 February 2026).

What rules exist for getting property back?

Several peace deals named the problem. The 2004 Transitional Federal Charter told the government to restore private property "to the rightful owners" and to set up a property recovery commission (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 49). The study says these commitments were not carried out (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

• 2012 Provisional Constitution: Article 43 says the federal government will develop a national land policy (IIED, 2019). The Heritage Institute says no national land policy or land reform has been made since 1991 (HIPS, 2023).
• 2013 Benadir framework: A framework signed in September 2013 gives the Benadir Regional Administration a role in land disputes and registration (RVI and HIPS, 2017, p. 69).
• 2019 national policy: In 2019 the government adopted a policy on returnees and IDPs, eviction guidelines, and an interim protocol on land for housing (IDLO, 17 December 2019). The EUAA says enforcing them "remains challenging" (EUAA, 2026).
• State laws: South West's 2022 urban land law accepts tax records as proof of ownership, because so many land records were lost (HIPS, 2023). Galmudug passed an urban land law in February 2022, and Puntland has a land dispute tribunal (HIPS, 2023).

How do families who left keep links home?

In a 2012 survey in Puntland and Somaliland, 48% of households had relatives or friends abroad (FSNAU and FAO, Family Ties, 2013). Of those in touch with senders, 96% used the telephone (FSNAU, 2013). Ninety percent said they felt obliged to help relatives, citing religion, family bonds and family honour (FSNAU, 2013).

For money sent home and life abroad, see What happened to Somalis after they left?.

Why it matters (Calankii)

The banner raised in 1895 belongs to every Somali, including those whose doors were taken and whose papers burned. A home, a deed or a grave is part of a family's story with the nation. Young Somalis inherit both the loss and the work of setting the record straight, with facts.

Related pages

• Why and how Somalis left
• What happened to Somalis after they left?
• Somali refugees by the numbers
• Refugee papers and status
• Mogadishu · Lower Shabelle · Middle Juba
• National ID (NIRA) · Birth records

Sources

1. Mahad Wasuge and others. "Land Matters in Mogadishu: Settlement, ownership and displacement in a contested city." Rift Valley Institute and Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, 2017. riftvalley.net · publication page. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Surer Qassim Mohamed. "Land Governance Review." Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, December 2023. heritageinstitute.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Heritage Institute. "Why Dialogue Must Replace Force" (Mogadishu evictions and politics brief). September 2025. heritageinstitute.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Christine Kamau, Charlotte Bonnet, Mohamed A. Mohamoud, Erik Bryld. "Accessing land and shelter in Mogadishu." IIED and Tana, January 2019. iied.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. EUAA. "Somalia: Displacement in Mogadishu", section 2.1 Policy framework. June 2026. euaa.europa.eu. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. EUAA. Same report, section 2.2 Evictions, drivers and latest trends. June 2026. euaa.europa.eu. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. EUAA. Same report, section 2.3 Recent instances of evictions in Mogadishu. June 2026. euaa.europa.eu. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. IDLO. "Somalia launches first policy on displaced persons, refugee-returnees." 17 December 2019. idlo.int. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Reuters (Thomson Reuters Foundation), via Arab News. "Back to the land: Friction as Somali exiles return home." 12 October 2017. arabnews.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Radio Ergo. "Cruel evictions leave thousands of people pushed back into poverty in Mogadishu." 13 October 2025. radioergo.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Ahmed Mahmoud Geesood. "Mogadishu's land reclamation drive exposes a deep corruption scandal." Geeska, 6 November 2025. geeska.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Mahad Weli. "Why we need to collect and archive Somali history." Geeska, 5 August 2025. geeska.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. UNSOM. "National Museum: Preserving Somali heritage against all odds." 31 October 2023. unsom.unmissions.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Somali National University. "History." Undated. snu.edu.so. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Africanews. "Somalia gets back university used as AMISOM military base for 10 years." 12 July 2017. africanews.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. SONNA. "Education minister orders evacuation of Somali National University land for redevelopment." 9 February 2026. sonna.so. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and partners. "Somali Digital Identity Playbook." ID4Africa 2026. id4africa.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. UNICEF Somalia. "Giving Every Child a Legal Identity." 10 August 2025. unicef.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Central Bank of Somalia. "Annual Report 2024." July 2025. centralbank.gov.so. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Dawan Africa. "Somali bankers: most shilling printed after 1991 collapse, no central issuer." 15 April 2026. dawan.africa. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. IGAD Land Governance Portal. "Somalia profile." Undated. land.igad.int. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. Norwegian Refugee Council. "Access to land and tenure documents: a situational analysis of minority groups in South West, Jubaland and Puntland states." Undated. nrc.no. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Laura Hammond and others. "Family Ties: Remittances and Livelihoods Support in Puntland and Somaliland." FSNAU and FAO, 5 June 2013. fsnau.org. Checked 2026-11-12.