COI-Report-Somalia

EASO Country of Origin Information report — South and Central Somalia — Country overview — 111
According to interlocutors of the Swedish fact‐finding mission (Lifos) in October 2013, ‘Al Shabaab has banned
FGM ( 1156 ) and, according to consulted sources, FGM does not occur in the areas controlled by Al Shabaab. (…) Girls
in areas not controlled by Al Shabaab are still subjected to FGM.’ Lifos adds that, although prevalence is slightly
decreasing, most girls all over Somalia still undergo FGM ( 1157 ).
Women who have not undergone FGM/C are stigmatised in Somali society and have less chance to marry. There are
indications that some families abandon infibulation and opt for a lighter form of FGM/C (commonly called sunna),
particularly in urban areas, and that FGM/C is slightly less common among girls between the age of 15 and 19 than
among women between 45 and 49 years old ( 1158 ).
4.4.2 Children
Fifteen per cent of children born in Somalia die before their first birthday ( 1159 ). Children are the most affected by the
humanitarian crisis, and were especially affected during the famine that hit the country between 2010 and 2012 ( 1160 ).
Acute malnutrition has affected 203 000 Somali children in total, while in the south at least 50 000 children face
increased risk of death, due to malnutrition ( 1161 ).
According to the Provisional Constitution, the age of maturity is reached at 18 ( 1162 ). However, in practice, children
from 15 years on are considered mature, for example with regard to marriage (see paragraph 4.4.1.3) ( 1163 ).
On average children receive less than 2.5 years of formal schooling. Girls’ school enrolment rate is much lower than
that of boys, and girls are more often illiterate (see paragraph 1.6) ( 1164 ).
Child labour is also widespread (50 %). Children are often found in poorly paid jobs, in manual and domestic labour,
as in the case of girls working as domestic servants, and boys working as shoe shiners, car washers, or in repair
shops ( 1165 ).
Children’s rights are often violated in Somalia, especially in the conflict‐ridden areas. Children have been mutilated,
killed, raped, and recruited as soldiers by armed groups ( 1166 ). Children are often the main victims of indiscriminate
shooting and fighting. The number of abandoned, orphaned, separated and displaced children living in the streets
has increased enormously since 2008.
In 2012, 4 660 cases of violations against children by armed forces and armed groups were documented, of which
2 051 concerned recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict (2 008 boys and 43 girls). Al‐Shabaab was
responsible for 1 789 cases of child recruitment in 2012, while the SNAF committed 179 such violations ( 1167 ). Between
November 2013 and April 2014, 447 incidents of grave violations (mostly abductions and recruitment) affecting 436
( 1156 ) This is confirmed by UNICEF in: AP, Female Genital Mutilation Down, 16 April 2013 (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/somalia‐female‐genital‐mutilation‐down)
accessed 30 May 2014.
( 1157 ) Lifos, Kvinnor i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya i oktober 2013, revised 24 January 2014 (http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumen
tdocumentSummaryId=31539) accessed 30 May 2014.
( 1158 ) IPS, Somalia’s ‘Cultural Shift’ Means Less‐Severe Form of FGM, 20 June 2013 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/somalias‐cultural‐shift‐means‐less‐ severeform‐of‐fgm/)
accessed 30 May 2014; UNICEF/Child Info, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change,
July 2013 (http://www.childinfo.org/files/FGMC_Low_Sept2013.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014, p. 190. Recent research by Foundation HIRDA shows the same
trend towards the lighter form of Sunna, used by a majority of 3000 interviewed men and women. HIRDA, Vrouwenbesnijdenis in Somalië. Actueel inzicht in
de praktijk en analyse van het effect van projecten gericht op het tegengaan van besnijdenis, Amsterdam, 2014, in press.
( 1159 ) Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers Report 2014 - Executive Summary (http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-
df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM_2014%20_EXEC_SUMMARY.PDF) accessed 29 May 2014, p 79.
( 1160 ) HRW, No place for children, Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia, February 2012 (http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/
reports/somalia0212ForUpload_0.pdf) accessed 30 May 2014.
( 1161 ) UN Security Council, Report of the Secretary‐General on Somalia (S/2014/140), 3 March 2014 (http://www.refworld.org/docid/531ef31f4.html) accessed
19 May 2014.
( 1162 ) Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, adopted on 1 August 2012 (http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspxfileticket=RkJTOSpoMME=)
accessed 30 May 2014.
( 1163 ) Lifos, Kvinnor och barn i Somalia. Rapport från utredningsresa till Nairobi, Kenya och Mogadishu, Hargeisa och Bosaaso i Somalia i juni 2012, 5 June 2013
(http://lifos.migrationsverket.se/dokumentdocumentSummaryId=30432) accessed 22 June 2014, p. 6.
( 1164 ) Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers Report 2014 - Executive Summary (http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-
df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM_2014%20_EXEC_SUMMARY.PDF) accessed 29 May 2014, p 79.
( 1165 ) IPS, No Silver Lining for Somalia’s Child Labourers, 17 May 2014 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/05/silver‐lining‐somalias‐child‐labourers/utm_
source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=silver‐lining‐somalias‐child‐labourers) accessed 31 May 2014.
( 1166 ) US Department of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 - Somalia, 27 February 2014 (http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/
humanrightsreport/index.htmyear=2013&dlid=220158) accessed 27 May 2014.
( 1167 ) UN Security Council, Children and armed conflict - Report of the Secretary‐General (A/67/845–S/2013/245), 15 May 2013 (http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.
int/files/resources/Children%20and%20armed%20conflict.pdf) accessed 1 June 2014.