Twin blasts in Dadaab raise concerns of worsening security
Monday's explosion in Hagadera camp killed one police officer and wounded two others. Tuesday's blast in nearby Ifo camp suggested it was not an isolated incident.
GENEVA, December 21 (UNHCR) - An improvised explosive device went off on Tuesday near the market at the Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. There were no casualties but a police vehicle was damaged. The explosion came just a day after a blast in nearby Hagadera camp killed one police officer and seriously injured two others.
In a statement issued today, UNHCR expressed alarm at the string of recent security incidents targeting the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya. Dadaab is the world's largest refugee settlement and shelters more than 460,000 people.
In total there have been four explosions at Dadaab since October, when three aid workers were kidnapped. The blasts have killed three Kenyan police officers and wounded four others. There have also been threats against humanitarian agencies working in Dadaab. UNHCR condemned these attacks and called for respect for peace and the civilian nature of the refugee camps.
"We are deeply concerned for the well-being and safety of Somali refugees in Dadaab, most of whom are women, children and elderly," said António Guterres, the UN's High Commissioner for refugees. "For the sake of refugees and those who are there to help them, it is of paramount importance to preserve the peaceful and civilian character of the camps."
A deadly mix of conflict, persecution, drought and famine has seen 295,000 people fleeing Somalia this year. More than half have found shelter at the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. Others fled to Ethiopia, Yemen and Djibouti.
In Dadaab, development of new sites, registration, deliveries of emergency assistance and services continued uninterrupted throughout the year. However, since October, growing insecurity has crippled the ability of aid agencies to deliver the all but life-saving assistance - mainly food, water and health services. UNHCR and its partners are exploring options to allow full operations to resume.
The situation in Dadaab has been further complicated in recent months by an outbreak of cholera, believed to have started among new arrivals who acquired it in Somalia or en route to Dadaab. Although new cases are now on a downward trend, UNHCR has registered 897 cases, and three deaths, since August. Worsening security, rains and flooding have also made it harder to truck in water to parts of the camps.
Somalia remains one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than 950,000 Somalis live as refugees in neighbouring countries, while another 1.46 million are internally displaced.
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Somali refugees win the heart of Spanish Goodwill Ambassador
6 Aug 2008 ... DADAAB REFUGEE CAMP, KENYA, Aug. 6 (UNHCR) - Jesús Vázquez could not wait to return to Dadaab. The well-known Spanish television presenter had promised refugees and humanitarian workers he'd be back ...... -
Kenya: Government and UNHCR working together to improve screening process for incoming Somalis
27 Oct 2006 ... there after a suspension in shuttling them to our camps at Dadaab. We hope to resume in a few days. ... There were also refugees already registered at the Dadaab camps posing as new refugees with the aim ...... -
UNHCR hopes transfers resume soon from Somali border to Kenya camps
27 Oct 2006 ... to the Dadaab camps was suspended mid-October. "We hope to resume the convoys in a few days. ... and that refugees already registered at the Dadaab camps were posing as new refugees with the aim ...... -
Kenya: Airdrop starts for flooded refugee camp
8 Dec 2006 ... the massive flooding in the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya. We have been facing serious difficulties in transporting the emergency supplies from Nairobi to Dadaab due to poor road conditions. ...... -
UNHCR chief joins visit to Dadaab, expresses concern for Somali refugees
4 Apr 2011 ... DADAAB, Kenya, April 4 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency and two sister organizations expressed deep ... of their concern during a visit on Sunday to Dadaab, where refugees are arriving daily, crowding ...... -
Kenya flooding: Relief supplies delivered
21 Nov 2006 ... Water levels have dropped in the sprawling Dadaab refugee camps since the last flash flood on ... However, more houses have collapsed in Dagahaley - one of three camps that make up the Dadaab ...... -
World Malaria Day: Nothing But Nets does nothing but good for refugees
24 Apr 2009 ... DADAAB, Kenya, April 24 (UNHCR) - In the sprawling complex of UNHCR-run refugee camps in north-east Kenya's arid Dadaab area, a simple mosquito net can make the difference between misery and comfort, ...... -
Doctors contain cholera outbreak in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp
13 Feb 2009 ... three sites that make up the sprawling and overcrowded Dadaab refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya. ... was immediately dispatched from Nairobi to Dadaab, to provide extra support to the doctors in ...... -
UNHCR relocates first Somali refugees from Dadaab to Kakuma
18 Aug 2009 ... We have started relocating the first of some 12,900 Somali refugees from the overcrowded Dadaab ... Another convoy of 13 buses with 520 refugees left Dadaab for Kakuma yesterday. The movement of the ......