Horn of Africa drought: Kenya row over Somali refugees

The UN gave Kenya money to build a new camp which is near completion but remains closed

Continue reading the main story

Horn of Africa drought

• Life and death
• 'A vision of hell'
• In pictures: Kenya refugee camp
• History of hunger

A row has broken out in Kenya's government over the huge influx of Somalis fleeing the region's worst drought in 60 years.

About 370,000 Somalis are at an over-crowded camp and the government is divided over opening a second camp.
One minister said a new camp would encourage more Somalis to cross the border.
Another minister, however, said he was "embarrassed" that Kenya was refusing to give more help to refugees.
On Monday, UN refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres held talks with Kenya's Internal Security Minister George Saitoti to appeal to him to open the Ifo II camp, which is near completion.
It has room for up to 40,000 people and would ease over-crowding at the Dadaab camp, near the Somalia border, Mr Guterres said.
Aid worker say conditions at the Dadaab camp are desperate, as about 370,000 people are crammed in a camp built for 90,000 people.
'Security threat' On Wednesday, Kenya's Assistant Internal Security Minister Orwah Ojodeh told the BBC a new camp would not be a solution to the hunger crisis.
Instead, food relief should be provided inside Somalia as hunger not insecurity was the reason most refugees were heading for Kenya, he said.
Continue reading the main story

Extended drought is causing a severe food crisis in the Horn of Africa, which includes Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. Weather conditions over the Pacific means the rains have failed for two seasons and are unlikely to return until September.

Food shortages are affecting up to 12 million people. The UN has not declared a famine but large areas of the region are now classified as in crisis or emergency, with malnutrition affecting up to 35-40% of children under five.

The humanitarian problem is made worse by ongoing conflicts, which means that until July militant groups had only allowed aid organisations limited access to large parts of southern Somalia and eastern Ethiopia.

Since the beginning of 2011, around 15,000 Somalis each month have fled into refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia looking for food and water. The refugee camp at Dadaab, in Kenya, has been overwhelmed by 370,000 people.

Farmers unable to meet their basic food costs are abandoning their herds. High cereal and fuel prices had already forced them to sell many animals before the drought and their smaller herds are now unprofitable or dying.

The refugee problem may have been preventable. However, violent conflict in the region has deterred international investment in long-term development programmes, which may have reduced the effects of the drought.

Development aid would focus on reducing deforestation, topsoil erosion and overgrazing and improving water conservation. New roads and infrastructure for markets would help farmers increase their profits.

The result of climate conditions, conflict and lack of investment is that 6.7 million people in Kenya and Ethiopia are currently existing on food rations, and relief agencies estimate 2.6 million in Somalia will need assistance a new emergency operation.

BACK 1 of 9 NEXT

But Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said he was embarrassed that the government was refusing open the Ifo II camp.

This was despite the fact that the UN had given Kenya tens of thousands of dollars for the camp, he said.
Mr Kajwang blamed the failure to open the camp on security chiefs and officials in President Mwai Kibaki's office.
"The problem is that our provincial administration [officials based in Mr Kibaki's office] and our security officers look at the huge influx as a threat to national security," he said.
"On the other hand, we see it as a crisis that must be managed. It is our responsibility under international law and our own law."
Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian affairs co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC that Somalia was not yet facing a famine, but was "close" to one.
"The next few months are critical," he said.
'Breadbasket' The BBC's Will Ross in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is exploring every possibility to increasing its presence in Somalia.

Click to play

Clive Myrie reports from the empty Ifo II camp

However, the WFP says it will not be able to return to areas controlled by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab unless it receives security guarantees.
Last week al-Shabab said it was lifting its ban on foreign aid agencies, provided they did not show a "hidden agenda".
Our reporter says there is clearly a desperate need for more food distribution in Somalia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is reporting a dramatic rise in malnutrition rates even in the part of Somalia normally considered to be the breadbasket of the country, our reporter says.
Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali told the BBC a refugee camp has opened in the capital, Mogadishu.
The government had set aside money to help drought victims, but it had "meagre" resources.
"We are appealing to the international community to take the matter seriously and to act quickly to save as many lives as we can," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Some 10 million people are said to be affected by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years.
Somalia, wracked by 20 years of conflict, is worst affected and some 3,000 people flee each day for neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya which are struggling to cope.