NAIROBI/GAROWE — The new coronavirus could be spreading undetected through camps across Somalia hosting some 2.6 million displaced people, the Red Cross warned on Tuesday, as floods and conflict swelled the numbers fleeing into overcrowded settlements. Almost 500,000 people have been forced from their homes by recent floods in central …
Read More »AMISOM supports IDPs with personal protective equipment against coronavirus
MOGADISHU — As part of efforts to support communities in its Areas of Responsibility, AoR, in the fight against COVID-19, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), on Friday presented a range of personal protection and hygiene supplies to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and vulnerable civilians in the Banadir region. …
Read More »Somalia evacuates 128 citizens from India amid COVID-19 fears
MOGADISHU — The Somali government has repatriated citizens who were stranded in India on Sunday. Permanent Secretary of the affairs and International Cooperation ambassador Mohamed Ali Noor Haji welcomed the citizens at Aden Abdulle International Airport. Most of the civilians who were evacuated were people who went to India for …
Read More »Somalia pledges better welfare for internally displaced persons
MOGADISHU — Minister of labour and social affairs of the federal republic of Somalia Sadiq Hirsi Warfaa and the Commissioner for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons have pledged the work towards the creation of job opportunities. The two spoke during a meeting the minister’s office in which they promised to …
Read More »Coronavirus reaches Dadaab camp, raising ‘serious concerns’ for refugees’ health
DADAAB CAMP — Two residents of the Dadaab complex have tested positive for Covid-19, the United Nations refugee agency has announced. These first confirmations of the presence of the Coronavirus are raising fears that it could spread in the camps and surrounding communities. “The crowded conditions in the Dadaab refugee …
Read More »UNHCR: Thousands fleeing due to floods and conflict in Somalia
MOGADISHU — The UNHCR has warned that conflict and serious flooding have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes amid risks of COVID-19 in Somalia. Heavy flooding, conflict, a crippled economy, impending desert locust swarms, and the exponential spread of COVID-19 are threatening the safety and welfare …
Read More »IDPs in Somalia share Ramadan meal under shadow of COVID-19
MOGADISHU — In makeshift metal homes in a camp in Mogadishu, women wrapped in brightly patterned scarves are making savory pastries and mixing flour for flatbreads. They are preparing iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during Ramadan, which this year falls in the middle of a global …
Read More »One of the world’s largest refugee camps is placed on lockdown
NAIROBI — Kenya put one of the world’s largest refugee camps under lockdown, even as humanitarian agencies warned there’s no infrastructure in place to deal with a potential outbreak of the coronavirus. All movement in and out of Dadaab, home to more than 220,000 people living in rickety, makeshift housing, …
Read More »Greek asylum ministry: Pregnant Somali asylum seeker tests positive for COVID-19
ATHENS — A 28-year-old pregnant asylum seeker from Somalia has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Migration and Asylum Ministry announced on Monday. The woman, who is six months pregnant, lives at a reception facility in Kranidi in the Peloponnese. She tested positive for the coronavirus at Nafplio hospital on …
Read More »Ethiopia secures £24m UK grant to support refugees
ADDIS ABABA — The grant agreement was signed on Tuesday by Admasu Nebebe, State Minister of Finance and Dr. Christian Rogg, Head of UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Ethiopia in a virtual authorization ceremony. The grant will be used for a project strengthening the economies of host and …
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Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia