Hundreds of Thousands of Somali Refugees in Kenya Threatened by Floods
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hundreds of Thousands of Somali Refugees in Kenya Threatened by Floods*
By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
06 November 2009
Refugees moving to higher ground in Kenya's Dadaab when it was hit by floods
The U.N. refugee agency is appealing for $2.8 million to help more than
300,000 refugees in two camps in Kenya threatened by flooding. The UNHCR
says the mainly Somali refugees in Kenya's overcrowded Dadaab camps
urgently need to be protected from the worst effects of the torrential
rains.
Most of Kenya is suffering from the effects of the prolonged drought.
But, along the Indian Ocean Coast and the northeastern region of the
country, people are being pounded by torrential rainfall.
The United Nations reports thousands of people have lost their homes and
livelihoods, and, it warns flooding and landslides from the rains may
affect up to 750,000 people.
U.N. refugee spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, says many of those affected by
the flooding are Somali refugees living in Kenya's overcrowded Dadaab camps.
"We fear that the looming El Nino phenomenon…a change in the atmosphere
and ocean of the tropical Pacific region that produces floods, droughts
and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world-may now
threaten the 338,000 mostly Somali refugees in the two camps, which in
any case usually are flooded for three months every year," he said.
Although the yearly floods are predictable, Mahecic says the UNHCR is
limited in what it can do ahead of time to protect the refugees from
their destructive impact.
He notes the government gives the ground for the campsites and the UNHCR
is unable to move the refugees to safer land without permission from the
Kenyan authorities.
He says the Dadaab camps are a good example of the dilemma faced by the
agency and the refugees who reside there.
"It was initially planned to hold 90,000 people," said Mahecic. "Perhaps
if it held the original population, the situation would have been
different. Perhaps the camp would be smaller and less effected by
potential flooding. However, it is now three times its original size in
terms of population, not in terms of land. It makes it extremely
difficult to change the site once you have it there."
Mahecic says the UNHCR began digging trenches and placing sandbags
around hospitals, bore holes and other strategic locations in both
camps, when heavy rains started three weeks ago.
He says many sections of the camps would have been inundated without
these and other measures. He says the agency is planning to move
refugees who might be worst affected by the floods to higher ground
within the camps.
He says much of the money from the appeal will be used to pre-position
essential items such as fuel, blankets, plastic sheets, and to respond
to possible outbreaks of disease.