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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UNHCR Field Brief: Improving maternal care in Dadaab refugee camps, Kenya
Jun 2010 ... Improving Maternal Care in Dadaab Refugee camps, Kenya Context Dadaab is located in the Garissa district in the North Eastern Province of Kenya and is home to approximately 300,000 refugees, primarily ...... -
Access to Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment in Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya
Jun 2013 ... Background Kenya hosts over 630,000 refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, and in urban ... insurgence and severe drought/famine of 2011. Dadaab refugee camps are one of the largest in the ...... -
Shelter project lets Dadaab's refugees swap twigs for bricks
10 Mar 2004 ... DADAAB, Kenya (UNHCR) - Imagine living in a small hut that collapses under heavy rain, and sharing a ... For more than a decade, this has been a daily reality for more than 135,000 people at Dadaab refugee ...... -
Twin blasts in Dadaab raise concerns of worsening security
21 Dec 2011 ... explosive device went off on Tuesday near the market at the Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. ... at the string of recent security incidents targeting the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya. ...... -
HIV Behavioural Surveillance Survey in Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya
Aug 2010 ... 1 HIV Behavioural Surveillance Survey in Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya IGAD - UNHCR August 2010 2 ......... 15 1.3 THE DADAAB REFUGEE CAMPS ......... -
Kenya: Six air-drops so far made to cut-off Dadaab refugees
12 Dec 2006 ... cut off for a month by flood waters and impassable roads in the Dadaab camps in northern Kenya. ... for extension of water facilities for a new site had been successfully dropped into Dadaab. ...... -
Registration of Somali asylum seekers resumes with tougher measures in place
1 Nov 2006 ... DADAAB, Kenya, November 1 (UNHCR) - After a two-week suspension, the registration of new Somali ... would now only be transferred to camps in Dadaab once their fingerprints had been checked ...... -
UNHCR airlifts supplies to flooded camp in Kenya
5 May 2003 ... DADAAB, Kenya, May 5 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Sunday began airlifting much-needed supplies for thousands of refugees rendered homeless by massive flooding in Kenya's Dadaab camp after heavy ...... -
UNHCR alarmed over recent security incidents at Dadaab
21 Dec 2011 ... GENEVA, December 21 - UNHCR is alarmed by a string of recent security incidents targeting the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya. Dadaab is the world's largest refugee settlement and shelters ......