DISPLACEMENT AND ASYLUM

NAIROBI (SoOHA) – Do not force Somali refugees to return back home in volatile areas, the Human Rights Watch warned Kenya on Thursday as the country prepares to shut down world’s biggest refugee camp. “The move threatens the rights and safety of 250,000 people, mostly Somali refugees and asylum seekers, …

GALKAYO (SoOHA) – Three months ago, Mukhtar Qassim Ali moved his family out of a squalid IDP camp on the outskirts of Galkayo to a decent rented house that he can afford now that he is working as an electrician. Mukhtar, 27, was among 25 young people trained over a …

KAMPALA (SoOHA) – Regional experts on Monday started a three-day meeting to devise means of improving the livelihood and self-reliance of refugees and host communities in eastern Africa. A joint statement by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body, and the Ugandan government said the meeting is attended …

ADAADO (SOHA) – Severe drought has forced dozens of families in central Somalia’s Mudug region to move away from their homes in search of water, after already losing thousands of goats. Following the failure of both rainy seasons – the gu’ and deyr – last year, 50 reservoirs that were the main source of …

DADAAB (SOHA) – An eye surgery clinic carried out by a US-based Somali doctor and funded by a diaspora youth group has helped 300 Somali refugees living in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya to regain their sight. The clinic was organised by Dr Abdikadir Mohamed Mohamud, a medical …

HARGEISA (SOHA) – Abdikadir Jamal Ali relished the day eight months ago when he was finally able to move his family out of their miserable displacement camp to live in a decent rented house in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa. Ali, 26, and his four siblings had been living in the …

ADDIS ABABA (SOHA) – The ICRC and the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) jointly distributed emergency relief assistance on February 21-22 to people displaced by ethnic violence in Eastern Ethiopia. Some 690 families displaced from different areas of East Hararghe Zone, Oromia region, and sheltered in Kore and Ali-Ethiopia localities …

LAAS AANOOD (SOHA) – Over 20 female university students in Las-Anod town have launched a campaign to help displaced families in Sool region. 150 families displaced by clan conflicts in the region, who have been living without basic needs, have now received food and other aid for the first time …

 DADAAB (SOHA) – A small scale farming initiative supported by a local NGO in Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya is gradually improving the lives of refugees by developing a sustainable source of basic food and income. A group of 82 families in the refugee camp has ventured into farming …

KISMAYO (SOHA) – Access to health care services including maternity is now accessible for families living in a low-income part of Kismayo in southern Somalia, following the opening of a new health centre. Around 1,500 families who returned from Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya have settled in Midnimo neighbourhood, which …