The appalling plight of Somali refugees

Somali refugee camp The appalling plight of Somali refugees

According to Robert Van den Berg, a spokesman for Oxfam International in the Horn of Africa, “Somalis flee one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans.”

Oxfam also asserts that ‘the international community has failed the refugees who have little access to basic services such as water and medicine.’ To add to the misery, Somalia is also currently suffering from the worst drought it has had in 10 years.

Somalia and refugee seem to have become synonymous. In both their home country as internally-displaced people and in refugee camps in neighboring countries, Somali refugees live in unsanitary conditions.

Somali refugees have fled both the war in their country between government forces and Islamic militant groups, as well as the devastating drought. Many are now living in packed refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. The Bokolmayo camp in Ethiopia, for instance, is home to about 10,000 Somali refugees.

‘About 8,000 Somali refugees flock into the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya every month.’ The camp can only accommodate approximately 90,000 people, but it now holds 280,000 refugees who may have access to basic necessities, including clean water.

485,000 people who have fled the capital of Mogadishu are now jampacked in camps in nearby Afgooye. International aid agencies are hindered by security problems in reaching the area.

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Via CNN

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