NAIROBI — Kenya said on Thursday it had told the United Nations it will shut by June 2022 two camps holding over 430,000 refugees who fled from wars in the east and Horn of Africa, adding it planned to repatriate some and give others residency. The interior ministry made the …
Read More »UN: Violence forces 100,000 to flee homes in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU — The United Nations humanitarian agency said Wednesday that between 60,000 and 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mogadishu following an outbreak of violence on April 25. Cesar Arroyo, the UN acting humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said those displaced include vulnerable internally displaced persons who …
Read More »NRC: Drought-hit Somalia faces record displacements
MOGADISHU — Somalia is bracing for record levels of displacement in 2021 due to severe drought which is ravaging parts of the country, leaving many people without water and livelihoods, a global charity warned Wednesday. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said more than 1 million people were displaced by floods, conflict and …
Read More »Somalia: 116,000 Displaced amid ‘worsening’ drought
MOGADISHU — Over 116,000 Somalis have been displaced by extreme water shortages since October 2020, according to a joint statement issued on Sunday by the UN and horn of African country. “Most parts of the country are facing critical water shortages, with more than 50 districts facing moderate to severe drought …
Read More »Fate of thousands of refugees in Kenya remains uncertain
GENEVA –– The fate of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Kenya hangs in the balance as UN officials try to dissuade Kenyan authorities from closing two camps that many have called home for the past three decades. The Kenyan government announced its intention to close the Dadaab and Kakuma …
Read More »Kenya orders closure of two refugee camps, gives ultimatum to UN agency
NAIROBI — Kenya on Wednesday ordered the closure of two sprawling camps that host hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Somalia and gave the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) two weeks to present a plan to do so, the interior ministry said. The Dadaab and the Kakuma refugee camps in …
Read More »IOM relocates nearly 7,000 IDPs facing eviction in Baidoa
BAIDOA — The UN migration agency said Tuesday it has relocated nearly 7,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were facing eviction from their homes in Somalia. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the IDPs were relocated on Sunday to Barwaaqo, a new site for IDPs, in the South West …
Read More »UN: 1.3M people displaced in Somalia in 2020
MOGADISHU — The UN office for humanitarian affairs Thursday said about 1.3 million people were displaced in Somalia in 2020. “Out of a total of 2.9 million IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] in the country, 1.6 million are most vulnerable and will require humanitarian assistance in 2021,” the United Nations Office for …
Read More »UN: Forced displacement tops 80 million at mid-2020
GENEVA — A report by the UN refugee agency estimated that global forced displacement surpassed 80 million at mid-year, noting that the full picture for 2020 is not yet established. “With forced displacement doubling in the last decade, the international community is failing to safeguard peace,” said Filippo Grandi, the …
Read More »Somali refugees return resumes after suspension over COVID-19 outbreak
MOGADISHU — The first batch of Somali returnees from Dadaab camp in Kenya since the outbreak of COVID-19 arrived in Mogadishu today. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR said Saturday the first group of 42 individuals landed in Mogadishu as part of the voluntary repatriation programme. ‘After months of suspension due to …
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Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia