Polio fears in Ethiopian refugee camps
Briefing Notes, 24 January 2012
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 24 January 2012, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR is very concerned at reports this week of two suspected poliomyelitis cases among Somali refugees at Dollo Ado's Bur Amino camp in Ethiopia, and three suspected cases from the surrounding host community. Polio is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children.
In the five refugee camps in Dollo Ado we are working closely with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, local government partners, WHO, UNICEF, MSF and other health partners to coordinate the response. The immediate priority is to confirm the outbreak, and samples have been collected and sent to Addis Ababa for laboratory confirmation. Once the strain of virus is identified, the appropriate vaccine will be dispatched to Dollo Ado for a mass vaccination campaign in the camps and surrounding communities.
In addition a nationwide anti-polio campaign in all zones of the country is scheduled to start on January 27th and will be expanded to include all refugee camps.
UNHCR and health agencies have also strengthened surveillance. At community level, mobilization and sensitization efforts have been stepped up to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of polio and ways to prevent transmission. As the polio virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, our partners providing water and sanitation are being engaged to ensure delivery of adequate services.
Some 143,000 Somalis are currently sheltered in five Ethiopian camps in Dollo Ado. More than 100,000 arrived in 2011 alone. After Dadaab in northeastern Kenya, Dollo Ado is now the second largest refugee settlement in the Horn of Africa. Almost a million Somalis live as refugees in the region while another 1.36 million are internally displaced.
For further information on these topics, please contact:
- In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Kisut Gebre Egziabher, mobile +251 911 208 901
- In Nairobi (UNHCR regional hub): Vivian Tan, mobile +254 735 337 608
- In Geneva: Andrej Mahecic, mobile +41 79 200 7617
Tens of thousands of Somalis are fleeing conflict and drought into Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
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
Post-Tsunami Recovery in Puntland
Away from the glare of the international spotlight, Somalia in the Horn of Africa was also hit by last December's Asian tsunami which rolled across the Indian Ocean. UNHCR, as part of an integrated UN emergency response, distributed life-saving supplies, including plastic sheets, blankets, and kitchen sets, to some 45,000 Somalis living along a severely damaged 650km strip of coast in the northeast.
A year on, the area is getting back to its pre-tsunami state with UNHCR and its partners now making the leap from providing emergency aid to investing in development projects. In an effort to improve the lives of the inhabitants of one of the poorest places on Earth, UNHCR has begun rehabilitating schools, building markets and women's centres, as well as constructing roads to help economic development.
The UN's relief efforts are concentrated in a 650km stretch of coastline between Hafun and Garaad in northeast Somalia, an area also known as Puntland. In war-ravaged Somalia, Puntland is a relatively peaceful self-declared autonomous enclave.
Post-Tsunami Recovery in Puntland
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
Ethiopia: Arriving in Assosa
Zeneib was living in her husband's village in Sudan's Blue Nile state when it was attacked. She lost three brothers and then endured tremendous hardship on the journey to Ethiopia with her children.
Somalia: No Peace Here
Fighting continues to force people to leave areas of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Abduallahi Ali is fleeing from one makeshift camp to another, saying he fears for his life.
Somalia: Help at Home
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, on a visit to Somalia, urges stepped up assistance to people inside the country.
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