2.2. Evictions, drivers and latest trends

According to the NRC in the period 2017-2025, over 2 million people/IDPs have experienced (repeated) forced evictions across Somalia. Benadir/Mogadishu stands out in this context, accounting for over 1 million of them,177 or over 1.3 million in the period 2015-2024.178 During the first 8 months of 2025, evictions in Mogadishu accounted for more than 80 % of the 140 000 people that had been evicted overall in Somalia until then, consisting mostly of IDP camps residents in Dayniile (64.7 %) and Kahda districts.179 By the end of 2025, they amounted to 149 452, while, as of January 2026, another 7 134 had taken place.180 In 2024, evicted people in Mogadishu were 68 880,181 in 2023 more than 100 000, with increasing government-led evictions (more than 10 000 people from 13 sites), for a total of 836 incidents.182

According to the Somalia CCCM Cluster, 47 % of the 2 057 verified IDP sites that had been mapped in Mogadishu at the end of 2024 were exposed to extreme (18 %) or high (29%) risk of eviction.183 Among these, the NRC report from December 2024 found that 89 % of surveyed marginalised and minority groups households had suffered and faced a risk of forced eviction, with 11 % having been evicted repeatedly. Another 11 % instead had never been evicted until then.184 Similar estimates were published by the Peace Hub Foundation at the beginning of 2025, which indicated that among the IDPs mapped sites in Mogadishu (2 565, reportedly all of them), more than 1/3 where exposed to a form of risk, either extreme (~13 %), high (~9 %), or medium (~12 %).185

Development remains, by far, the most common driver of forced evictions in the country.186 According to a 2021 analysis conducted by the NRC, 89 % of evictions recorded in Somalia were carried out by private landlords while pursuing private development projects, while 11 % were carried out by the state for government-led development.187

City reconstruction promotes rent seeking and real estate developments, which go hand in hand with mass-scale evictions. Against this backdrop, camps development and their progressive integration in the economy of the city, including provision of basic services (water, sanitation, roads, transports) increases their value and thus exposes them to possible (repeated) evictions.188 Similarly, in the post-2012 period, with the progressive reestablishment of both national and local administrative apparatus in Mogadishu, government officials have prioritised the clearing of informal settlements in government or near government properties, often while resorting to the use of force.189