BLOG

It is impossible to get your arms around the complexities of housing close to 290,000 refugees in Dadaab, in northeast Kenya. Dadaab is made up of three adjoining camps: Ifo, Hagadera, and Dagahaley. It is especially difficult when the three camps, which were originally meant to accommodate only 90,000 people, have been forced to shelter over 300,000. Today the swelling continues as the conflict in Somalia continues. Somali refugees are streaming into Dadaab at the rate of 6,000 or more a month (400 alone registered the day we came) and there is literally no place for them to go. Dadaab is now the fourth largest “city” in Kenya.

On Monday, a Refugees International (RI) board mission, including myself and fellow board members Michael Hawkins and Jeff Krilla, accompanied by RI President Michel Gabaudan, Development Director Elaine Martyn, and Advocate Elizabeth Campbell visited the NGO/UN compound and Ifo camp to ascertain the rhythm of life in this densely populated refugee enclave. Over 95% of the population here is from Somalia, with Sudanese, Ethiopians, and many other nationalities making up the rest.

The immediate impression of Ifo is that it is big and bustling. The main market area rivals those in neighboring towns and even attracts many locals who find shopping here less expensive and more diverse than in their own communities. Oversize trucks stuffed with electronics, foodstuffs, sneakers, and clothes for all occasions wait in line to disgorge their goods. There are credit agencies and banks, and also private cars – something not usually seen in refugee camps -- carrying people and provisions.

Yet this veneer of commerce masks the problems that accompany Dadaab’s out-of-control growth. There are the usual strains on water, sanitation, and health facilities, as revealed in UNHCR figures. Instead of providing the minimum 20 liters of water per person per day, currently UNHCR and its partners can supply only about 13 liters per capita, although there are plans to provide 18 liters in the future. Eighty-three percent of the families do not have proper latrines, and again the hope is to fill that gap. There is a need for more health centers (one to 23,000 beneficiaries) and there are only eight medical doctors.

But the most important issue is land. There is no land for new families who come to the camps. When 8,000 refugees recently fled Somalia due to fighting between Al-Shabab forces and militias, they were not allowed in and are now encamped in suspension on the border. In 2008 and 2009, only one-third of new arrivals were provided with land; the others piled in with relatives and friends. There is a planned extension for Ifo camp, but it is being held up by the demands of a local Kenyan politician.

This is another sticky issue: the relationship between the host community and the camps. The host community and surrounding neighborhoods claim that the camps are encroaching on pastoral lands, causing environmental degradation, and creating inequities between the two poor communities.

Against this backdrop, the Dadaab camps seem to operate as best they can. Improvements are slowly being made but many more remain to be done. Our team got a snapshot of both.

We went to the “Safe Haven” Shelter for Women, run by Lutheran World Federation, which harbors women and children “in danger of death” from incidents in the camp. Three women were there – one Somali teenager, one older Ethiopian woman, and a Sudanese mother with her children. All had stories about being abused, disowned, and threatened. They were in line for re-settlement as a solution to their problems. The shelter can host as many as fifteen families and sometimes does.

A meeting with refugee leaders from Somalia revealed that many of them thought “there was no way back home” at this time. Some, who had been in the camps for 20 years, said, “The international donors have tried their level best… but it is not enough.” They asked for more food distribution centers (there is now only one per camp), food with more nutritive value, better water distribution, better training of teachers, faster resettlement, and more protection and security.

One woman remarked, “So many of us see problems in the camp but we are refugees and cannot complain. There is no justice here. The police are bribed. The international community brought us here to be in safe hands, but unfortunately we are not.”  

The Dadaab camps are in a careful balancing act, trying to respond to the needs of a protracted crisis and the daily influx of more refugees. It will take more time to sort out.


Members of the Refugees International Board Mission will be blogging regularly from Kenya as they assess the refugee situation in places like Dadaab. Follow the RI Board Mission posts over the next few weeks and learn more about our work from the field.