# Evictions in Mogadishu and other Somali cities > Forced evictions in Somalia in numbers: yearly totals since 2014, where they happen, who is evicted and why, the 2013 Mogadishu relocation plan, and what the sources say about land rising in value. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/evictions-in-somali-cities/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## The numbers | Year | Where | People evicted | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Jan to 7 Oct 2014 | Mogadishu | More than 34,000, of them 20,000 from late August to 7 October | [UNHCR, cited by LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf) | | 2023 | All Somalia | 207,851 | [NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf) | | 2023 | Mogadishu | 100,907 | [NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf) | | 2015 to 2024 | Mogadishu | More than 1.3 million | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) | | 2024 | Mogadishu | 68,880 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) | | 2024 | All Somalia | More than 192,000 | [EUAA, citing NRC, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions) | | 2024 | Mainly Mogadishu and nearby | 197,000 cases involving displaced people | [EUAA, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions) | | 2025 | Mogadishu | 149,452 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) | | Jan 2026 | Mogadishu | 7,134 | [EUAA, citing NRC](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends) | The two 2024 figures come from different counts and the source does not explain the gap. An EUAA summary of NRC data says more than 2 million people were evicted, many more than once, across Somalia from 2017 to 2025 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)). ## Where In the first eight months of 2025, Mogadishu had more than 80 percent of the 140,000 people evicted in Somalia, most of them from camps in [Dayniile](/en/society/internal-displacement/) and Kahda. At the end of 2024, **47 percent** of 2,057 displacement sites in the city were at extreme or high risk of eviction ([EUAA, citing NRC and the camp management cluster](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)). In 2024, Banadir (mainly the Daynile and Kahda districts of Mogadishu), Bay (Baidoa) and [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) (Hargeisa) accounted for **over 90 percent** of forced evictions ([EUAA, October 2025](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)). Other figures from the same source: - **Hargeisa:** 41 percent of households in displacement sites rely on spoken, unwritten land agreements. - **Garowe:** 36 percent of displacement sites face a severe risk of eviction. - **Beledweyne:** the UN recorded the eviction of 180 displaced households in the first half of 2024. ## Who is evicted Those most affected are displaced people in towns, especially those living on private land without formal tenure agreements ([EUAA](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)). In Mogadishu, **87 percent** of displaced people have no clear tenure arrangement ([NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf)). Women and children make up about 80 percent of Somalia's 3.8 million displaced people ([EUAA](https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-somalia/424-forced-evictions)). ## Why Relative calm in parts of the south and centre raised land values, making property an attractive investment. A 2014 study found that evictions were increasingly carried out by companies, businesspeople and diaspora returnees, some using forged title documents ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf)). The same study calls abuse of camp residents by camp "gatekeepers" a serious and widespread problem. In a 2021 analysis, private landlords carried out **89 percent** of recorded evictions in Somalia and the state 11 percent ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends)). NRC reported more evictions led by government bodies in Mogadishu in 2023, including the clearing of **13 sites** by security forces, which made more than **10,000 people** move again ([NRC, December 2024](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-communities-in-mogadishu.pdf)). ## The cost An NRC study found that evictions since January 2022 had displaced about 143,500 people and destroyed more than **$4.6 million** of schools, latrines, water points and other facilities ([SOOHA, 18 December 2024, reporting NRC](https://sooha.org/en/?p=15640)). An NRC study of minority and marginalised displaced groups in Mogadishu found 89 percent of households surveyed had been evicted or were at risk ([NRC](https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/community-driven-consultations-on-hlp-needs-among-minority-marginalised-displaced-communities-in-mogadishu)). ## The 2013 relocation plan In January 2013 the new Federal Government announced a plan to move almost **300,000** displaced people from Mogadishu to camps outside the city. The UN then counted 369,000 people in camps in the city, and the mayor, [Mohamed Ahmed](/en/people/skinz/) Nur Tarsan, said 270,000 would be moved ([LAW and NRC, 2014](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sheltercluster.org/public/docs/housing-land-and-property-issues-in-somalia-persons-of-concern-in-somaliland-and-south-central-somalia.pdf), citing IRIN, 27 February 2013). Amnesty International and Refugees International reported shelters being bulldozed with little or no warning in 2013 and 2014 (same source). ## Public land clearances in Mogadishu, 2024 to 2026 The federal and Banadir authorities have cleared sites they say are public land ([Geeska, 6 November 2025](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)): - **8 July 2024:** homes demolished at Dabdemiska, Wadajir district; police said the site would become a fire station. - **27 October 2024:** residents ordered out of Kalluunka, near the airport, in homes built in 1977 and 1978. - **4 August 2025:** Sinaay market, Warta Nabadda district, cleared; clashes left at least two dead. - **7 August 2025:** Belego Arab market, Shibis district, demolished. - The government said the clearances would reopen **52** closed roads. About 100 government buildings in the city were said to be occupied by residents (same source). - **23 August 2026:** nearly ten people were hurt when security forces demolished homes in Tookiyo, Yaaqshiid district; the federal government said the land is state-owned ([Radio Dalsan via AllAfrica, 23 August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608240117.html)). Opposition politicians and others say some cleared public land was sold to private buyers; the article reports these as claims ([Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)). ## Sources disagree NRC gives 149,452 people evicted in Mogadishu in 2025; Geeska gives about 142,000 people displaced in 2025 ([EUAA](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/somalia-displacement-mogadishu/22-evictions-drivers-and-latest-trends); [Geeska](https://www.geeska.com/en/mogadishus-land-reclamation-drive-exposes-deep-corruption-scandal)). ## Related pages - [Land law in Somalia](/en/economy/land-law-and-land-ownership/) - [Mogadishu](/en/regions/mogadishu/) --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.