Overview
Dadaab is the world's biggest refugee complex and is home to a
staggering 450,000 refugees, most of whom are from neighbouring
Somalia. Up to 1,000 new refugees arrive in the camp each day. The
camp was originally designed to accommodate 90,000 but continued
armed conflicts in the region and one of the most severe
droughts in 60 years resulting in a famine affecting millions
have forced people to seek emergency assistance and food aid in
Dadaab. Dangerously overcrowded and chronically underfunded, this
camp is rapidly becoming a humanitarian crisis in itself.
The flow of refugees from Somalia continues unabated, with more
than 162,000 Somalis arriving in the sprawling Dadaab refugee camps
in 2011, the highest arrival rate in the camp's 20-year
history.
This influx has necessitated the expansion of camps in
Kenya. As of 15 July 2011, UNHCR welcomed Kenya's decision to
open a new camp extension for Somali refugees. This extension has
helped to ease pressure on existing camps struggling to absorb tens
of thousands of new arrivals. Camp congestion and sever
overcrowding, however, continue to complicate registration and the
delivery of services but UNHCR remains in the camps providing
life-saving assistance to new arrivals. UNHCR is also focusing on
strengthening self-reliance and resilience among refugees and local
communities. Environmental conservation measures are another
imperative in refugee-hosting areas.
UNHCR's funding requirements have increased significantly as a
result of the increased influx of refugees in 2011, primarily from
Somalia. Funding problems for Dadaab have been compounded by the
numerous other emergencies occurring across Africa, the Middle East
and Asia. The most pressing unmet needs in Dadaab relate to
education, water, food security and attaining minimum acceptable
living standards for the current refugee population.
Note: Should the funds raised exceed the amount required
to meet the immediate and longer term needs of the people in the
affected areas, Australia for UNHCR will direct donations to
our Emergency Programs for Refugees to enable us to rapidly address
future emergencies as they occur.
News
KENYA: IKEA Foundation gives UNHCR US$62 million for Somali refugees in Kenya - 30 August 2011
GENEVA, August 30 (UNHCR) – The IKEA Foundation has donated US$62 million to UNHCR for the agency's expanding operation to help tens of thousands of Somali civilians at the huge Dadaab refugee complex in north-east Kenya.
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KENYA: UNHCR distributes aid to 30,000 displaced Somalis in past week - 19 August 2011
NAIROBI, Kenya, August 19 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Friday it is continuing to distribute emergency aid to displaced people in southern and central Somalia, reaching some 30,000 of them this week alone.
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HORN OF AFRICA CRISIS: Aid efforts in the Horn of Africa need to be scaled up further, says UN Relief Chief - 17 August 2011
The United Nations humanitarian chief today stressed the need to further scale up efforts to assist the millions of people suffering in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, warning that more lives will be lost to famine and disease without urgent action.
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HORN OF AFRICA CRISIS - Humanitarian Update - 12 August 2011
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 12 August 2011, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
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KENYA: UNHCR readies for transfer of Somali refugees to new camp areas - 12 August 2011
DADAAB, Kenya, August 11 (UNHCR) – Staff from UNHCR and partner organizations were on Friday completing preparations for moving Somali refugee families from this weekend into a new area of the Dadaab refugee camp complex in northern Kenya.
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KENYA: Helping the most vulnerable in Dadaab - 10 August 2011
DADAAB, Kenya, August 10 (UNHCR) – Her right leg is twisted outward at a 45-degree angle just below the kneecap. And when Bishara Hassan Hussein steps forward with her baby wrapped against her body, it seems as though she has a branch sticking out from her body. The leg throbs with a constant pain, especially when she walks fast or for long distances.
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EAST AFRICA: UNHCR seeks US$145 million in fresh appeal for Horn of Africa emergency - 28 July 2011
GENEVA, July 28 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Thursday appealed for an extra US$8.6 million to expand its humanitarian assistance in the East and Horn of Africa. This comes as severe famine and continuing violence aggravate the mass displacement of people both inside Somalia and across its borders.
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KENYA: UNHCR starts emergency airlift of tents to Kenya, Ethiopia - 18 July 2011
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 18 (UNHCR) – The first airlifts of UNHCR tents have arrived in Ethiopia and Kenya and are being rushed to the borders with Somalia to shelter thousands of emaciated Somali refugees fleeing conflict and drought.
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KENYA: UNHCR welcomes camp extension at Dadaab, Kenya - 15 July 2011
GENEVA, July 15 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency has welcomed Kenya's decision to open a new camp extension for Somali refugees fleeing conflict and drought back home. This extension will help to ease pressure on existing camps struggling to absorb tens of thousands of new arrivals.
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KENYA: "We're in a crisis right now": World's biggest refugee camp sees alarming spike in child deaths - 11 July 2011
DADAAB, Kenya, July 11 (UNHCR) – With the worst drought in 60 years gripping huge swathes of east Africa, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres spent Sunday touring this vast refugee complex to see for himself the desperate situation for the thousands of Somalis now arriving here every week.
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SOMALIA: UNHCR concerned about malnutrition levels among new Somali refugees - 5 July 2011
GENEVA, July 5 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency is concerned about the high incidence of malnutrition among Somali refugees flowing into Ethiopia and Kenya amid a devastating drought in their conflict-racked country.
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SOMALIA: 50,000 civilians flee Somalia in first quarter, double from a year earlier - 29 May 2011
GENEVA, April 29 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Friday that an increasing number of Somali civilians were fleeing their country amid the deteriorating security situation, with 50,000 arriving in neighbouring countries in the first quarter of this year compared to 23,000 in the same period in 2010.
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KENYA: UNHCR chief joins visit to Dadaab, expresses concern for Somali refugees - 4 April 2011
DADAAB, Kenya, April 4 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency and two sister organizations expressed deep concern at the weekend about the living conditions of more than 314,000 Somalis at a sprawling refugee complex in north-east Kenya.
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KENYA: UNHCR issues urgent appeal to Kenya to halt refoulement of Somali refugees - 3 November 2010
UNHCR appeals to the Kenyan authorities to immediately halt its returns of Somalis from the Border Point 1 camp at Mandera in northeast Kenya.
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SOMALIA: UNHCR alarmed as fighting leaves 230 dead in Mogadishu - 7 September 2010
UNHCR said Tuesday it was alarmed by the further deterioration in the security situation in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where fighting between government forces and the Al-Shabaab militia has left more than 230 civilians dead and at least 400 wounded in the past fortnight.
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SOMALIA: Neighbouring countries feeling the strain as Somalia's emergency grows - 3 May 2010
A top-level UNHCR delegation visiting Somali refugee and IDP camps has seen for itself evidence of the growing humanitarian tragedy facing many thousands of uprooted people. The delegation, led by UNHCR's Deputy High Commissioner, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, examined increasingly overcrowded and under resourced situations in sprawling camps in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and inside Somalia during a two-week visit that has just ended.
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SOMALIA: UNHCR appeals for US$60 million to help growing numbers of displaced Somalis - 12 May 2010
The UN refugee agency, alarmed at the rapidly deteriorating security situation and growing displacement in Somalia, appealed on Wednesday for an extra US$60 million to fund operations helping forcibly displaced Somalis within the troubled state and in four neighbouring countries.
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