US Lifts Aid Suspension to Somalia Amid Broader Immigration Crackdown
The State Department resumed food aid after claiming Somalia took responsibility for disrupting operations, while Trump administration restricts Somali immigration to US.
The United States lifted its suspension of aid to Somalia on Wednesday after claiming the East African nation took responsibility for disrupting food aid operations earlier this month, though Somali officials have not confirmed that acknowledgment.
The State Department suspended all assistance to Somalia’s federal government on Jan. 7 after alleging that Somali officials destroyed a U.S.-funded warehouse belonging to the World Food Program and seized 75 metric tons of food aid intended for impoverished civilians.
The WFP warehouse contained specialized food for malnourished young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The organization said it later retrieved the food but provided no additional details about the recovery.
Somalia’s Foreign Ministry denied the U.S. allegations, stating that expansion and construction work at the Port of Mogadishu had not affected custody or distribution of humanitarian assistance. The Somali government did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance announced on social media platform X that the U.S. will “resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
The statement emphasized that the Trump administration maintains “zero tolerance” for “waste, theft, or diversion of U.S. resources.”
The aid suspension coincided with the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on Somali refugees and migrants, including fraud allegations involving child care centers in Minnesota. The administration has imposed significant restrictions on Somalis attempting to come to or stay in the United States.
Somalia, located in the Horn of Africa, ranks among the world’s poorest nations. The country has endured decades of chronic conflict and insecurity, worsened by multiple natural disasters including severe droughts.
While the suspension has been lifted, officials have not specified when aid deliveries will actually resume. The WFP did not immediately respond to inquiries about the timeline for restarting operations.