UN: 5.3 million East Africans uprooted by war and disasters; 8.8 million face drought
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Pastor Dale Morgan
May 14, 2011, 3:42:56 PM5/14/11
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UN: 5.3 million East Africans uprooted by war and disasters; 8.8 million face drought
By Peter James Spielmann, The Associated Press
More than 5.3 million East Africans in 10 countries have been uprooted by internal conflicts and natural disasters, the United Nations said Friday.
Some 1.4 million refugees have been forced to cross national borders while 4 million others are displaced within their home countries.
Droughts have also stricken about 8.8 million East Africans, sowing hunger and homelessness, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.
OCHA's figures covered the month of March. It said the totals on east Africa showed an 8 per cent increase in refugees over the previous six months, but a 3 per cent decrease in "internally displaced persons" who have not crossed a national border.
Ethiopia was most affected, with 3.2 million people now in need of humanitarian aid. In Somalia more than 50,000 people were displaced by a combination of armed conflict and natural disasters during March, OCHA said.
The countries monitored were Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Congo.
Worrisome trends included an increase of more than 50,000 refugees in Kenya and 19,000 fleeing warfare in Somalia, and drought there from the 2010 La Nina weather pattern.
Increased attacks on civilians in eastern Congo by the Lord's Resistance Army, and clashes in Somalia between the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab and African Union peacekeepers and the nominal government in Mogadishu partly drove the increase in refugees, OCHA said.
UN: 5.3 million East Africans uprooted by war and disasters; 8.8 million face drought
By Peter James Spielmann, The Associated Press
More than 5.3 million East Africans in 10 countries have been uprooted by internal conflicts and natural disasters, the United Nations said Friday.
Some 1.4 million refugees have been forced to cross national borders while 4 million others are displaced within their home countries.
Droughts have also stricken about 8.8 million East Africans, sowing hunger and homelessness, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.
OCHA's figures covered the month of March. It said the totals on east Africa showed an 8 per cent increase in refugees over the previous six months, but a 3 per cent decrease in "internally displaced persons" who have not crossed a national border.
Ethiopia was most affected, with 3.2 million people now in need of humanitarian aid. In Somalia more than 50,000 people were displaced by a combination of armed conflict and natural disasters during March, OCHA said.
The countries monitored were Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Congo.
Worrisome trends included an increase of more than 50,000 refugees in Kenya and 19,000 fleeing warfare in Somalia, and drought there from the 2010 La Nina weather pattern.
Increased attacks on civilians in eastern Congo by the Lord's Resistance Army, and clashes in Somalia between the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab and African Union peacekeepers and the nominal government in Mogadishu partly drove the increase in refugees, OCHA said.
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