The East Africa
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Since September 13, more than 3,400 Somali have escaped fighting in their country to find refuge in Kenya, bringing the tally to almost 25,000 since the beginning of the year. FRED OLUOCH reports Kenya may be forced to set up an additional refuge camp in Dadaab to cater for a new influx of Somali refugees as the instability in the neighbouring country starts to bite.
In a conversation with The EastAfrican, the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Emmanuel Nyabera, said that although the camps had the capacity to handle the influx at 300 refugees per day being experienced currently, the situation was likely to worsen with the escalation of the conflict in the country.
Mr Nyabera predicted that if the situation in Somalia deteriorates further, the countries of the region may be forced to mount a massive relief operation.
However, he added, the situation is still far from the refugee crisis of 1991 in the wake of the fall of the regime of former strongman Siad Barre.
Since September 13, more than 3,400 Somali have escaped fighting in their country to find refuge in Kenya, bringing the tally to almost 25,000 since the beginning of the year. There are more than 227,000 refugees already in Kenya, mainly from Somalia and Sudan.
Mr Nyabera said that, from interviews with UNHCR officials, it had emerged that the refugees, who are mostly women and children, were mainly from Mogadishu, Kismayu, and Lower Juba province.
Incidentally, these regions are not so far in the hands of the Islamic Courts Union.
Outside Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts are in control in the provinces of Lower Shabelle, Benadir, Middle Shabelle, Hiran, Gelgedut and parts of Mudug region.
Refugees from Baidoa – the seat of Somalia’s interim government – have also started trickling into Kenya.
The Islamic Courts have maintained that they have no intention of attacking Baidoa given the ongoing power-sharing talks.
Still, UNHCR has expressed concern that the attempt to assassinate Somali President Abdillahi Yusuf in Baidoa last week may ignite war and precipitate a new influx of refugees into Kenya, especially from the Baidoa area.
On September 18, UNHCR transported 652 refugees by truck from Liboi, a border crossing point between Somalia and Kenya, to Dadaab refugee camp. This is the highest number to come over in a day since Somali refugees started crossing into Kenya at the beginning of the year.
UNHCR officials say that that those coming from Kismayu say they fled the port city because of rising tensions and fear of possible fighting between the Islamic Courts Union and warlords who have been controlling the city.
Those coming in from Mogadishu and Baidoa say they fear renewed clashes in those areas. Others say they are leaving Mogadishu to avoid recruitment by warlords or the Islamic Courts Union.
Some claim that they have been personally attacked by armed militia while others say they have fled because their neighbours have been killed and they feared similar treatment.
The UNHCR is particularly concerned that the local community is not ready to welcome the visitors.
“The community has voiced its concern about increased numbers of refugees and possible destruction of the environment, particularly the felling of trees and bushes for construction of tukuls – the dome-shaped shelter used by Somalis. We have joined the Kenyan government in talks with community leaders on this,” UNHCR chief spokesman Ron Redmond said in a statement from Geneva.
The head of the UNHCR office in the Kenyan town of Dadaab, Nemia Temporal, fears that more refugees might be entering Kenya further south through the Amuma border crossing.
“The transfer from the border is difficult as we do not have enough trucks. We are now looking to hire trucks locally here in Dadaab to increase our capacity and to ensure that trucks bringing refugees from the border are not overcrowded,” she said.
There are also fears that the numbers may increase further following militia fighting that took place two weeks ago in Dobley, a village located 18 kilometres from the Liboi border.
At the request of immigration authorities, UNHCR is sending trucks to Liboi to collect the new arrivals for transfer to the nearby Dadaab refugee camp – a complex of three camps already hosting some 134,000 mainly Somali refugees.
UNHCR, in consultation with the government, is planning to construct a reception area in Liboi with adequate shelter to ensure that the refugees are protected from the weather as they await transfer to Dadaab, 98 km away.
Source: The East Africa, Sept 26, 2006
