Washington says that it is impossible for citizens to return safely due to the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Somalia.
According to President Joe Biden’s administration, the humanitarian crisis and armed conflict in the African nation have created a situation that is too dangerous for them to return home, so the United States has temporarily lifted its ban on deporting Somali nationals living in the country.
The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday that Somalia’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would be extended for another 18 months.
As a result of the change, the TPS status of about 430 Somali nationals will remain in effect until September 17, 2024, according to the department. Another 2,200 people who have lived in the US continuously since January 11 of this year are also qualified.
“Through the extension and redesignation of Somalia for Temporary Protected Status, the United States will be able to offer safety and protection to Somalis who may not be able to return to their country, due to ongoing conflict and the continuing humanitarian crisis,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.
Washington grants TPS to nationals of countries where conditions temporarily make it too dangerous for them to return – such as in cases of armed conflict or environmental disasters, including earthquakes and hurricanes.
The US has extended TPS to people from Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Cameroon and Ukraine, among other nations.
In December, a group of legislators from Biden’s Democratic Party urged the administration to extend and re-designate TPS for Somalia because the country is facing “a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by protracted armed conflict”.
“The security situation in Somalia remains extremely fraught, as [the armed group] al-Shabab continues to threaten the stability and safety of Somalia. Violence is rampant, with the highest number of recorded civilian casualties since 2017 according to the UN,” the legislators, who included Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, said in a letter.
The United Nations said in December that, while famine had been narrowly averted in Somalia, the situation remained “catastrophic” amid widespread and severe food insecurity.
A report by UN officials and other experts, released last month, said more than 8 million people face “an unprecedented level of need” after five consecutive failed rainy seasons and “exceptionally high” food prices.
Meanwhile, al-Shabab has intensified its attacks in recent months as it fights government forces.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated group’s fighters were driven out of the capital Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but they still control parts of Somalia’s countryside.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in May of last year, had pledged an “all-out war” against the group. Government troops and allied militias have made some battlefield gains against al-Shabab, recapturing territory long held by its fighters.
Last week, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for two car bomb blasts that killed at least 15 people in central Somalia’s Hiraan region.
Source: Aljazeera.com