(ERGO) – An influx of around 600 people fleeing remote parts of southern Somalia’s Middle Juba region arrived over the last three weeks in one of the refugee camps in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, where they have been unable to register as refugees to get assistance.
The refugee leader of IFO2 camp, Ali Abdille Ali, told Radio Ergo he witnessed the arrival of almost 50 people overnight on 8 March. On other days, Ali said, groups of around 20 people have been arriving. They are in a noticeably poor condition.
“The people arriving are very frail and they look very weak,” Ali said.
Most of those arriving are coming from parts of Somalia that are under Al-Shabab control, and where the drought and water shortage have been devastating. Their villages have not received any aid, as agencies and NGOs are unable to work there.
However, the Kenyan government stopped the process of refugee registration in Dadaab in 2016, after earlier threatening to close down the camps.
Radio Ergo interviewed Lulay Mohamed Sheikh, 25, who arrived in IFO2 just over a week ago with her three children. Lulay said her husband had stayed behind at home in Sakow, Middle Juba, where the family has a 3.5 hectare farm that has produced nothing for five years. They had eked out their living with 30 goats and 15 cows, but when all the livestock died in the drought they decided she would leave with the children for Dadaab.
Lulay described walking with the children for a day and night to Kalooley village, 40 km from Sakow. They walked on to Bu’ale, where they were found a ride with a truck going to Dobley on the Kenyan Border. The journey from Sakow to Dadaab took them a total of 10 days.
Since arriving in Kenya, Lulay said she had not found the help she had been expecting. She went to the UNHCR office in the camp but was not given any assistance. She had received 2,000 Kenya shillings ($20) from a local mosque. Their camp neighbours were sharing with them two small meals a day of pancakes and sorghum. Her children were suffering but she had no means of support in the camp.
Lulay and her children are now living in a hut that was vacated by a family that recently returned to Somalia under the voluntary repatriation scheme organised by UNHCR. She repaired the broken roof with cartons and old pieces of cloth she collected.
Radio Ergo also spoke to Da’ud Ali Hussein, 23, who arrived with the large group that entered IFO2 on the night of 8 March from Bulahareri, 35 km north of Sakow, in Middle Juba. Da’ud and his wife and two children moved in to share the hut of some relatives, who were already living in the camp.
“I used to have 35 cows,” Da’ud said. “When 30 died in the drought, I decided to sell off the five skinny ones that were left. I got $120, which I used to travel to Dadaab.
Da’ud said the family has a two hectare farm in Bulaheri that they have not been able to cultivate for three years due to failed rains. They used to depend on a well 35 km away from their home. When it finally dried up due to over-exploitation by the people and animals, Da’ud knew they had to leave.
The UNHCR’s information office in Dadaab said that since 2016 they had profiled 6,982 unregistered Somalis, including 12 individuals from Middle Juba. It appears that UNHCR is not aware of the recent arrivals from Middle Juba.
They will not be able to access any services without documentation. They are also vulnerable to arrest and deportation by the Kenyan authorities.
UNHCR said it is continuing to advocate with the Government of Kenya, through the Refugee Affairs Secretariat, for resumption of refugee registration.
