Almost 60,000 Somalia refugees arrive in Dadaab camp, stretching humanitarian needs- IRC

GOOBJOOG NEWS|NAIROBI: Relief groups in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp are becoming increasingly strained as over 55,000 refugees from Somalia fleeing drought and conflict have arrived in the last two months, the International Refugee Committee (IRN) said Monday.

The Committee warned that a further 120,000 refugee arrivals are expected into Dadaab refugee camp by early 2023 as extreme drought in Somalia and East Africa continues to bite unabated, without a significant scale up in support to the communities affected.

The body noted with concern that the current humanitarian situation in the camp had also uncovered a serious public health crisis caused by a lack of basic services, severe overcrowding, and a chronic lack of funding, coupled with the fact that there has been no registration of Somali asylum seekers since 2016.

“In Somalia where extreme drought and violence continues to displace thousands of people both internally and across borders, international leaders must ensure immediate funding is utilized to bring relief to and prevent displacement of 7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance,” said Mohamed El Montassir Hussein, IRC Kenya Country Director said,

The International Rescue Committee called upon international leaders “to scale up funding and drought response activities across the region”, as the assistance they have been providing to the refugees has been stretched beyond limits.