United Nations Radio

The UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that rising numbers of Somalis are seeking asylum in neighboring countries to escape the increasingly volatile situation in many parts of their homeland, particularly in Mogadishu.

UNHCR's Spokesman Ron Redmond says 64,000 people have fled the capital this year.

"Since the beginning of the year, some 15,000 Somalis have sought asylum in Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and as far away as eastern Sudan. These numbers are in addition to the tens of thousands who have fled internally many of them from Mogadishu itself."

By the end of 2007, aid agencies estimated that more than a million people were displaced inside Somalia. According to UNHCR, each day more than 100 Somalis cross into Djibouti from Somaliland, and 200 Somali migrants are intercepted each week as they attempt to make their way to Yemen and end up in jail. The refugee agency is operating camps in Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia, mainly for Somali asylum seekers.