Badbaado camp for displaced people, Mogadishu

Badbaado is a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mogadishu. Human Rights Watch describes it as the biggest camp in Dharkenley district, set up by the authorities in mid-2011 (Human Rights Watch, Hostages of the Gatekeepers, March 2013). Its residents are Somalis displaced inside Somalia, not refugees from abroad. For displacement across the country, see Internal displacement.

When and why did Badbaado open?

The camp opened during the 2011 famine, as people fled drought and hunger in the south for the capital (VOA, 4 August 2011). VOA reported in early August that the camp had been set up the previous month (same source).

One VOA report described the site as an empty field in a destroyed neighbourhood "a few weeks ago" (VOA, 10 August 2011). A second VOA report that day said hundreds of camps had appeared in and around Mogadishu over three months, by one estimate 200 to 300 (VOA, 10 August 2011). The UN had declared famine in five areas of Somalia, including among displaced people in Mogadishu (VOA, 4 August 2011).

The background to the famine is on The famine of 2010 to 2012.

Who runs Badbaado?

In 2013 Human Rights Watch said the government's Disaster Management Agency ran the camp (HRW, 2013). Police posted at the camp had provided security since October 2011 (same source). Before that, a commander reporting to the Dharkenley district commissioner was in charge of security (same source).

Human Rights Watch reported that "militias under the command of the district commissioner and deputy district commissioner are reportedly sometimes present in the camp" (HRW, 2013). It reported that "these militias are from two different Abgal sub-clans and have, as described below, clashed on occasion" (same source). It added that "part of the district commissioner's militia is reported to have been integrated into the government forces" (same source).

HRW called Badbaado "one of the few government-run IDP camps in the city" in 2013 (HRW, 2013). In 2017 it described it as the capital's only government-managed camp (HRW, 18 April 2017).

How many people have lived in Badbaado?

Counts differ by source and year:

• 4 August 2011: more than 30,000, according to the government, as reported by VOA (VOA, 4 August 2011).
• 10 August 2011: about 30,000 in one VOA report (VOA, 10 August 2011), and about 20,000 in another the same day (VOA, 10 August 2011).
• May 2014: around 5,000 displaced families, in what Radio Ergo called the largest IDP camp in Mogadishu (Radio Ergo, 20 May 2014).
• Third quarter of 2022: three sites named Badbaado, Badbaado 1 and Badbaado 4 in Mogadishu's Dharkenley district, with 197 households and 1,565 people in all (CCCM Cluster Somalia, IDP site master list, Q3 2022, via HDX).

The 2022 list gives each site separately (same source):

• Badbaado: 58 households, 482 people.
• Badbaado 1: 70 households, 600 people.
• Badbaado 4: 69 households, 483 people.

The CCCM Cluster's verified list for the fourth quarter of 2024 lists Banadir sites only in Dayniile and Khada districts, and none of them is named Badbaado (CCCM Cluster Somalia, IDP site master list, Q4 2024, via HDX). Human Rights Watch refers to Kahda as a district formerly part of Dharkenley (HRW, 2017).

"Badbaado" is also a common name for displacement sites elsewhere in Somalia. The 2024 list includes sites of that name in Baidoa, Kismaayo, Cadaado, Gaalkacyo, Baraawe and Jalalaqsi (CCCM Cluster, Q4 2024).

What happened on 5 August 2011?

Seven people were killed and at least five injured when food trucks were raided at the camp, VOA reported (VOA, 4 August 2011). Some witnesses said the looters wore government soldiers' uniforms, and the government denied that soldiers took part (same source).

Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali visited the camp and promised a committee to investigate, VOA reported (same source). He also announced a new team of soldiers to guard displaced people and aid workers (same source).

Human Rights Watch gives a fuller account (HRW, 2013):

• Who looted: a militia linked to the district's deputy commissioner took WFP food, which led to a clash with the militia guarding it.
• Deaths: seven people were killed, including two displaced women.
• The dispute: HRW reports that the deputy commissioner had refused to allow the distribution unless 5 of the 13 trucks were handed over.

What abuses did Human Rights Watch record?

HRW's 2013 report recorded these events in Badbaado (HRW, 2013):

• Second half of 2011: several rapes by armed men in uniform, some identified as government soldiers. Many families then left for other settlements.
• July 2011: a displaced man who protested at the mayor's office about conditions in Badbaado was held for four days.
• 2 September 2011: two camp leaders who had formed a committee were detained for 24 hours on the camp commander's orders.
• Early September 2011: militia stopped journalists, including a BBC journalist, from interviewing residents inside the camp.
• 22 October 2012: militia and nearby residents looted food from dozens of households after a Turkish Red Crescent distribution.

The head of one aid group told HRW that in its early days Badbaado was "a militia market" (same source).

What water and services does Badbaado have?

In August 2011, residents queued daily for rice or gruel cooked in large pots (VOA, 10 August 2011). The rice was donated by people in Mogadishu, water came from a few communal taps, and health care was scarce (same source). VOA saw many children sick with measles (same source).

In May 2014, the water tanks supplied by the Somali group Hijra stopped, after funds ran out (Radio Ergo, 20 May 2014). Families had to buy water from nearby wells at 1,000 Somali shillings for 40 litres, which most could not afford (same source).

Have people been evicted from Badbaado?

In April 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that families had recently been forced out of Badbaado (HRW, 18 April 2017). Two former residents said a man came with an armed militia and pressured dozens of families to leave (same source). The police took no action, they said, and the families moved to Lafoole, about 20 km outside Mogadishu, without clean water or sanitation (same source).

For evictions across Mogadishu, and the 1,109,273 displaced people the clusters counted in Banadir in September 2026, see Internal displacement (UNHCR ODP, Somalia).

What has been written about Badbaado?

• Human Rights Watch, Hostages of the Gatekeepers (March 2013), on abuses against displaced people in Mogadishu, with a long section on Badbaado (HRW).
• Laetitia Bader, "In crisis-stricken Somalia, no safe haven" (HRW, 2017) (HRW).
• Voice of America reports from August 2011 on the camp's first weeks (VOA).
• CCCM Cluster site lists give household counts for sites named Badbaado (HDX).

Related pages

• Internal displacement
• The famine of 2010 to 2012
• Mogadishu
• Somali refugee camps
• Measles in Somalia
• Disasters in Somalia: a list

Sources

1. Human Rights Watch. Hostages of the Gatekeepers: Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia, 28 March 2013. https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/03/28/hostages-gatekeepers/abuses-against-internally-displaced-mogadishu-somalia. Checked 12 November 2026.
2. Human Rights Watch (Laetitia Bader). In crisis-stricken Somalia, no safe haven, 18 April 2017. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/18/crisis-stricken-somalia-no-safe-haven. Checked 12 November 2026.
3. Voice of America. 7 killed in looting at Somalia aid camp, 4 August 2011. https://voanews.com/a/article-7-killed-in-looting-at-somalia-aid-camp-126834743/158609.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
4. Voice of America. Displaced Somalis face overcrowding at refugee camps, 10 August 2011. https://www.voanews.com/a/displaced-somalis-face-overcrowding-at-refugee-camps-127539883/143684.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
5. Voice of America. Mogadishu offers little comfort to Somalis arriving from famine, 10 August 2011. https://www.voanews.com/a/mogadishu-offers-little-comfort-to-somalis-arriving-from-famine-127555968/143690.html. Checked 12 November 2026.
6. Radio Ergo. Badbaado IDPs run out of water, 20 May 2014. https://radioergo.org/en/2014/05/badbaado-idps-run-out-of-water/. Checked 12 November 2026.
7. CCCM Cluster Somalia. List of IDP sites in Somalia, 3rd quarter 2022, via HDX. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/somalia-idp-site-master-list-2nd-quarter-2022. Checked 12 November 2026.
8. CCCM Cluster Somalia. IDP Site Master List, 4th quarter 2024, via HDX. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cccm-somalia-idp-site-master-list-q2-2024. Checked 12 November 2026.
9. UNHCR. Operational Data Portal: Somalia, estimated IDPs by region (CCCM Cluster), 30 September 2026. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/som. Checked 12 November 2026.