UNHCR chief in Kenya to assess situation for refugees, energy project
Briefing Notes, 7 September 2010
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 7 September 2010, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, has today begun a three-day mission to Kenya to review a green-energy initiative at the Kakuma refugee camp in the country's northwest, as well as to assess progress on the expansion of the overcrowded Dadaab refugee camps, near the Somali border.
In Kakuma, the High Commissioner will be looking at a pilot project that aims to deliver electricity to camp residents, schools, hospitals and other community services, while at the same time introducing solar and wind-powered energy. This project, announced last year at the Clinton Global Initiative by UNHCR and the Portuguese energy company EDP, is the first of its kind in any refugee camp in the world. If successful, UNHCR will consider replicating the model throughout Africa and beyond for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons.
On Wednesday, the High Commissioner will be in Dadaab to evaluate progress on the extension of the Ifo section of the camp. The first phase of the expansion will allow the transfer of 40,000 refugees from the most congested areas of the camps. Dadaab was originally established to host 90,000 refugees but the camp is now home to nearly 300,000 mostly Somali refugees. More continue to arrive each month as they flee violence in south and central Somalia.
Tens of thousands of Somalis are fleeing conflict and drought into Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.
Kenya Floods Threaten Refugees
Flood waters in north-eastern Kenya in mid-November, caused havoc in the Dadaab refugee complex of three camps. Over 100,000 of the 160,000 refugees have been badly affected by the flooding, particularly in Ifo camp. Refugees' homes were swept away and latrines have overflowed and collapsed. The main supply route linking Dadaab to the rest of Kenya has been cut by the rains, blocking all aid deliveries by road.
To get refugees to safety on higher ground, UNHCR started transferring people to Hagadera camp, 20kms away – often using donkey carts. A series of airlifts has brought in fuel for generators, emergency health kits, tarpaulins, and shovels to fill sandbags to keep the flood waters at bay. Essentials items such as plastic tarpaulins, sleeping mats, and food have been distributed to refugees who lost everything.
These floods have been compared to the massive flooding which followed the record 1997 El Nino rains that swamped much of low-lying eastern Kenya.
Posted on 29 November 2006
Kenya Floods Threaten Refugees
Flood Airdrop in Kenya
Over the weekend, UNHCR with the help of the US military began an emergency airdrop of some 200 tonnes of relief supplies for thousands of refugees badly hit by massive flooding in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya.
In a spectacular sight, 16 tonnes of plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, tents and blankets, were dropped on each run from the C-130 transport plane onto a site cleared of animals and people. Refugees loaded the supplies on trucks to take to the camps.
Dadaab, a three-camp complex hosting some 160,000 refugees, mainly from Somalia, has been cut off from the world for a month by heavy rains that washed away the road connecting the remote camps to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Air transport is the only way to get supplies into the camps.
UNHCR has moved 7,000 refugees from Ifo camp, worst affected by the flooding, to Hagadera camp, some 20 km away. A further 7,000 refugees have been moved to higher ground at a new site, called Ifo 2.
Posted in December 2006
Flood Airdrop in Kenya
Dire Times in Dadaab
Angelina Jolie's visit to Dadaab in north-east Kenya puts a spotlight on the overcrowded camp complex, home to tens of thousands of refugees.
When UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited Dadaab in north-east Kenya on September 12, 2009, she saw first-hand some of the tough conditions that tens of thousands of refugees must live in. The overcrowded three-camp complex is home to more than 285,000 mainly Somali refugees, making it the largest refugee settlement in the world. The camps were established in the early 1990s and were intended for a maximum of 90,000 people. Up to 7,000 people are now arriving every month to escape continuing conflict in Somalia. Jolie talked to residents about their daily life and their exile. These images show her meetings with the refugees of Dadaab and show some of the conditions they live in. Aside from overcrowding, they face water shortages, crammed classrooms, health problems, the coming rainy season and a range of other difficulties. UNHCR hopes new land will be allocated soon for the new arrivals.
Dire Times in Dadaab
South Sudan: Appeal for Doro Camp
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visits refugees in South Sudan and says international assistance is "absolutely crucial.”
Kenya: In Need of Protection
The legacy of Sudan's civil war haunts many refugees. In Kakuma camp some need special protection to ensure their safety.
ExCom: Guterres Warning
High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres opens the annual meeting of UNHCR's governing committee with a warning that displacement crises are multiplying and becoming more unpredictable.
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