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Dadaab on the ground

Dadaab in Kenya is the world's biggest refugee camp. Learn more about the situation on the ground.



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UNHCR faces a major challenge in finding solutions for Somali refugees in the worlds biggest refugee camp, Dadaab, in Kenya.

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Stories From The Field

Halima, Somalia

Halima, Somalia

"One morning my mother took me, my sister and my baby brother and left our house. It took us three weeks to walk here."

Holding her baby brother, 10-year-old Halima queues to receive her vaccinations at the Liboi Reception Centre for Somali refugees on the Kenyan/Somali border.

"My father owned a shop in Kismayo but they (The Islamic Courts Union) told him he wasn't allowed to sell his music CDs anymore. My parents think there's going to be a war, so one morning my mother took me, my sister and my baby brother and left my house. My father stayed behind with two of my brothers and my grandmother.

It took us three weeks to walk here. My mum carried some food and we also begged in the villages we passed. We got here two days ago. They have taken our names and given us food. We have to wait here for about a week for our papers to be checked and then a truck is coming to take us to our new home. My sandals broke on the way here. I am wishing for new sandals."

Halima and her family are now living with some 280,000 Somalis in three massive refugee camps in the Dadaab region of eastern Kenya. With little prospect of peace in Somalia, they are likely to remain in the camps for some years to come.