UN expresses concern over increasing insecurity at Somali refugee camps

[News_Editor]

UN expresses concern over increasing insecurity at Somali refugee camps

2012-01-15 00:46:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

NAIROBI, KENYA (BNO NEWS) -- United Nations (UN) officials on Saturday expressed their increasing concern as insecurity continues in and around refugee camps which are hosting Somalis in the Horn of Africa.

Andrej Mahecic, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the insecurity situation is complex and tenuous, causing particular concern in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya.

"The threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), kidnappings, vehicle hijackings and banditry remains high," said Mahecic, adding that, along with the killings of police officers and kidnappings of aid workers, the agency is also witnessing the targeting of refugees.

Late last year, two refugee leaders who had volunteered to help maintain peace and safety in the camps were murdered.

"These events and others, since late October, are harming life for the 460,000 people who make up the population of the largest refugee settlement in the world," said Mahecic. He said the ability of aid agencies to deliver services is being 'seriously curbed.'

Mahecic also noted that humanitarian workers are having to contend with restrictions on movement from Dadaab town to the camps, and police escorts for such movements have become essential.

UNHCR said, however, that despite these challenges, basic services such as health, food, water, sanitation, education and protection are being maintained as the result of planning and the close cooperation of partners and the refugee communities in Dadaab.

In Ethiopia, a security incident occurred near the Dollo Ado camps on Wednesday when three armed men in civilian clothing attempted to stop a vehicle belonging to an international non-governmental organization (NGO). The vehicle, which was carrying four people, did not stop and was then fired upon. There were no casualties.

The UNHCR spokesman said the incident on Wednesday is believed to be an 'isolated case', but that aid agencies have restricted all but essential activities and movements in all five Dollo Ado camps, which currently host about 140,000 people.

According to the most recent figures, more than 955,000 Somalis live as refugees in countries neighboring Somalia - primarily in Kenya (520,000), Yemen (203,000) and Ethiopia (186,000). A third of them fled Somalia in the course of 2011 owing to conflict, drought and famine. Another 1.3 million people are internally displaced within the Horn of Africa nation.

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