U.S. announces $6 million aid for Djibouti and Somali refugees from Yemen

The United States has announced more than $6 million humanitarian assistance for refugees in Djibouti and Somalia who fled from Yemen following the on-going conflict in the Arabian Peninsula nation.

The new funding brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the Yemen region to $81 million this year.

In a statement to the media, the Somalia Unit of the State Department in Nairobi said the funds would be directed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Yemen Situation Supplementary Appeal to enable the refugee agency provide much needed humanitarian assistance to the refugees in the two countries.

“The additional funding will allow UNHCR to provide refugees in Somalia and Djibouti with shelter, access to clean water and sanitation facilities, health care, essential household items, legal assistance, programs which protect children, and activities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence,” read the statement in part.

Over the last three months there has been an influx of refugees into Somalia and Djibouti most of them nationals of the two countries who had fled to Yemen following conflict especially in Somalia.

The U.S. has also hailed the two countries for opening their borders for those fleeing the violence while pledging to work closely with humanitarian agencies and countries in the region to alleviate suffering among the refugees.

The U.S. aid will go a long way in bolstering efforts by Somali government and local organisations and the business community who have played a critical role in not only hosting the refugees but also marshalling ships to evacuate those trapped in the conflict.

Hundreds of Yemeni nationals are housed in camps in Mogadishu while many others have pitched tent in the port city of Bosaso in northern Somalia.

The aid support comes a day after the UN humanitarian agency, UNOCHA warned of close to a million Somalis facing a food crisis with 3.1 million in total in need of food supplies in the country.