1 Refugee Is Too Many

July 20, 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of World Refugee Day and the 20th year of refugees in Dadaab, Kenya.  This year's global theme, "One Refugee Is Too Many," was especially poignant in Dadaab as the number of refugees living in the three camps now exceeds 370,000!  At each camp, the day was celebrated with skits, songs, and readings by school children, ethnic minorities, musicians, community leaders and others.  There were many appeals to UNHCR to increase its efforts to meet the needs of the ever-increasing camp population.



Sporting our World Refugee Day t-shirts at Dagahaley Refugee Camp.



Dagahaley Refugee Camp school group performing a song and skit.



The crowd was enthusiastic, and everyone enjoyed the performances - even when the loudspeakers stopped working!

Children watching the performances.

Refugees recognized for their contributions in the camps.

  

Students performing a skit in which people fleeing from Somalia are attacked by bandits who steal their few remaining possession.

 A female school group singing a rap song.

The Dagahaley Camp Chairman gives a speech.  The camp chairman and chair lady are the top leadership positions in the camp.

 UNHCR staff and special guests at the World Refugee Day events in Dagahaley Refugee Camp (I'm next to and behind the people wearing red shirts).

This year alone, over 62,000 newly arrived refugees have registered with UNHCR in Dadaab - with a daily average in June of 1,500 people!  And remember, the camps were only built to hold 90,000!  Fear of Al Shabaab and the continuing drought in Somalia have caused people to exit the country in staggering numbers. 

Familiar sight of a newly arrived family.

Each day as we drive to the UNHCR field offices in the camps, hundreds of people sit in the dirt near the UNHCR gates waiting to be helped.  The sight is heartbreaking- children without shoes, having walked for days in the hot sand; dust-covered faces; naked babies carried on the backs of young children; and elderly people carried on makeshift stretchers.

Temporary shelters (which end up being long-term shelters) provided to new arrivals.

Waiting to be assisted by the Department of Refugee Affairs and UNHCR at Ifo Refugee Camp.

Keeping up with the growing number of people who arrive each day at the refugee camps is a difficult task.  Although emergency food is provided immediatley upon arrival, it does not last long.  It is only after a refugee has been registered with the Kenyan government and then UNHCR that the family receives a ration card, giving them access to bi-monthly food distributions.  Food is distributed over a one-week period, based on family size.  But even that food is not enough.

Standing with colleagues at the reception center for new arrivals in Ifo Refugee Camp.

For most refugees, registration is just the beginning of a long period of waiting and hoping for help from aid agencies.  Resettlement is the end goal for the majority of refugees; however, it can take years to be scheduled for a resettlement interview, have your case processed and finally board the plane to a third country. 

Below is a photo of a Somali Bantu family whom I interviewed for resettlement.  Because one of their children is Albino, the wait for their interview was only (ONLY!?!) 3 years.

 There is no end in sight to the refugee situation in Kenya, but each day we can try to give someone hope for a better life.