PLATFORMS

GROWE (SOHA) – Teams from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation have begun the distribution of emergency relief assistance to Somali families in villages in Puntland State, northeastern Somalia, as part of phase two of a campaign launched to assist those ravaged by drought in the region. 900 tonnes of …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Somali officials say the United States has deported 84 Somalis, including four women, back to their home country. Two planes carrying the Somalis arrived at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport on Friday. A spokesman for Somalia’s Security Ministry, Abdulaziz Ali Ibrahim, told VOA’s Somali service the deportees …

DADAAB (SOHA) – Qatar Charity (QC) has distributed dry food supplies to 1,000 Somali refugee families living in the Dadaab camp in Kenya to help them cope with the acute food shortage. The distribution of food supplies was carried out at a cost of QR 200,000 through QC’s field office …

KISMAYO (SOHA) – The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has distributed 824 tonnes of food items to 6,000 families — around 30,000 people — in the drought-stricken area of Jubaland in Somalia. The food aid was distributed as part of the Foundation’s first phase of relief assistance this season …

DADAAB (SOHA) – Newly-arrived refugee children from Somalia pose for a photograph at the Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, near Kenya’s border with Somalia. The United Nations refugees agency is looking for funds to mitigate the environmental degradation caused by refugees. UNHCR’s head of operations in Dadaab Jean Rushatsi said …

LONDON (SOHA) – A teenage girl forced to leave her family behind and flee Somalia aged just 14 after being threatened by terrorists recounted her treacherous journey to the UK in a heartbreaking documentary. Fearing for her life after she was accused by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab of touching …

BRUSSEL (SOHA) – The European Union has announced Sh3.9 billion humanitarian aid for refugees in Kenya and Uganda. Christos Stylianides, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, said Kenya will get Sh1.1 billion and Uganda Sh2.8 billion, since it has the highest number of refugees in Africa. The aid to Kenya is …

NAIROBI (SOHA) – Kenya will invest in vocational training for refugees to enhance their integration in the host country through employment or entrepreneurship, senior officials said Wednesday during an event to mark the World Refugee Day. Fred Matiang’i, Cabinet Secretary for Interior, said Kenya will reach out to multilateral partners …

DADAAB (SOHA) – At least 254,811 Somali refugees from Dadaab camp in Garissa have been voluntarily repatriated since 2013, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said. The repatriation started after a tripartite agreement between Kenya, the Somalia government and the UNHCR in November 2013. Speaking during Refugee …

DADAAB (SOHA) – The total closure of three extensive refugee camps in Dadaab may not happen soon as numbers of those returning to their countries of origin voluntary have reduced while others have vowed never to return to their homes. While the number of refugees has tremendously reduced from 466,683 …