Farah Yusuf Makahil has known displacement for most of his adult life. For 14 to 15 years, he and his family built their lives in Togga, Somalia, until the day came when they had to leave. They eventually settled in Shabelle Camp, joining thousands of other internally displaced families seeking safety and stability.
From borrowed land to a home of his own
But even in the camp, the ground beneath their feet was never truly theirs. The land belonged to someone else, and with that reality came a constant anxiety: the fear that one day, without warning, they could be told to go.
That fear was not unfounded. As a displaced family living on privately owned land, Farah and his family had little understanding of their legal rights or what protections, if any, existed for people in their situation. They were vulnerable, not just to poverty, but to the threat of sudden forced eviction with no time to prepare and no recourse to fight back.
Everything began to shift when Farah was reached by the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA) unit. Through a series of sessions and awareness seminars, he began to understand the rights he never knew he had.
He learned that even on land he does not own, no-one has the legal authority to order him out overnight, and that proper notice and adequate time must be given before any eviction. He learned that the law recognises his rights as a displaced person. That knowledge alone was transformative.
But the support went further than awareness. The programme guided Farah through the process of purchasing his own land, navigating the legal steps of leaving the land he had occupied, and planning the construction of a shelter he could call his own.
When the moment of relocation arrived, NRC, through the housing, land and property rights project funded by the European Union, provided his family with a USD 50 relocation grant, money earmarked for the move itself. For Farah, that grant meant nails, a new door lock and transport: the practical essentials of building a new beginning – a small amount, perhaps, but the difference between moving forward and staying stuck.
The impact has been profound. Today, Farah, a man who has spent over a decade living on land belonging to others, has relocated to land he legally owns. The burden that once pressed heavily on him, his wife, and his children has lifted. For the first time, he is not just surviving displacement, but stepping out of it.
"The USD 50 NRC gave us was meant for relocation, and it helped us greatly," Farah says. "It helped me, my children and my wife move to land we own. It relieved us of so much pressure."
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