BREAKING: UAE to Close Free-Services Hospital Again in Ongoing Tiff with Somalia

GOOBJOOG NEWS| MOGADISHU — Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Mogadishu, a key provider of free medical care for poor and displaced residents, is at risk of shutting down again after the UAE Embassy reportedly notified the facility’s management that medical services will be suspended, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The reported move comes days after Somalia’s federal government announced it had suspended or cancelled key agreements with the United Arab Emirates, deepening a diplomatic rupture that has repeatedly spilled into security, ports and humanitarian support.

Sheikh Zayed Hospital, which officially opened in June 2015 has previously been caught in the crossfire of political tensions. In 2018, the UAE halted operations at the hospital amid a sharp deterioration in relations with Mogadishu, leaving thousands of low-income residents without access to free treatment.

Sources now say the hospital had only recently resumed full services after a modernization effort, reopening in 2024 and again providing free medical care, a development that had eased pressure on overstretched public health facilities in the capital.

Public health advocates warn that another shutdown would fall most heavily on vulnerable families who rely on free consultations, diagnostics and treatment. The hospital is located in Mogadishu’s Abdi Aziz district, an area that draws patients from across the city, including internally displaced communities.

Somali officials have not publicly detailed whether the hospital’s potential suspension is part of a broader scaling back of UAE-funded assistance or a stand-alone decision linked to the latest diplomatic row.