More than 50,000 Somalis fled to Kenya since the beginning of the year,
escaping the fighting and the growing humanitarian crisis in their
country.
The refugees are arriving at an overwhelming average rate of 6,400 a
month, adding more pressure on the already overstretched facilities and
resources in Dadaab camps in northern Kenya, which currently host three
times the population they were designed to hold.
In mid-August, we embarked on a programme aimed at decongesting Dadaab
and started the relocation of some 12,900 refugees to Kakuma camp in
north-west Kenya. Despite the fact that we have already moved 9,570
refugees, the camp population in Dadaab remains virtually unchanged.
There are now 281,600 Somali refugees there.
The 16th convoy of 13 buses with 650 refugees on board left Dadaab on
Wednesday and arrived in Kakuma today. The relocation, which is being
implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is
expected to be completed by 7 October.
After a prolonged drought, several parts of Kenya are experiencing
torrential rains. Meteorologists have forecasted that Kenya will be hit
by the El-Nino phenomenon. We fear that Dadaab is likely to be heavily
flooded in the coming weeks, posing considerable health risks to the
refugees.
Meanwhile, deadly clashes between government forces and rebel groups
have forced some 250,000 Somalis out of their homes in the capital
Mogadishu alone since May. Most have sought refuge in the Afgooye
corridor, some 30 km west of the capital. These makeshift sites are now
home to over 524,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) living in
squalid conditions as humanitarian organisations face enormous hurdles
in reaching them.
The deteriorating security situation and prolonged drought in Somalia
are forcing more people to flee further a field, into the neighbouring
countries and beyond. Using unscrupulous smugglers, thousands risk
their lives and take the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden and
the Red Sea to reach Yemen or the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.
Not all make it to their destination. Last week, 16 people died and 49
others went missing, presumed drowned in the Gulf of Aden. Since
January, a total of 924 boats and over 46,700 people have made the
journey to Yemen from the Horn of Africa. So far this year 322 others
are known to have drowned or went missing at sea and are presumed dead.
Somalia is one of the world’s biggest refugee and IDP producing
countries. UNHCR provides protection and assistance to more than
515,000 Somali refugees in the nearby countries of Kenya, Yemen,
Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda. The UN estimates that there are 3.8
million Somalis in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, including
some 1.5 million IDPs.
This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s
Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be
found on the UNHCR website www.unhcr.org
