DADAAB: When her three-month-old baby fell sick from malnutrition, Dool Abdirahman Ismael left her village in Somalia and walked for three days through swirling dust and scorching heat to the Dadaab Refugee Camp just across the border in Kenya.
Ismael, 26, said she had hoped Dadaab would be free of the hunger and sickness she fled in Somalia, where the worst drought in decades and surging food prices have left millions of people in need of aid.
Instead, the young mother found barren land, overcrowding and scant resources at Dadaab, one of the world's largest refugee camps and home to 300,000 people.
In a ward for severely malnourished children, Ismael said her baby's condition had not improved since arriving at Dadaab. Severe malnourishment had made the baby's head swell with liquid - a common effect of malnutrition in children.
"There hasn't been improvement," Ismael said, cradling the infant.
After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, parts of Somalia are on the verge of famine and the rest of the country is faring little better. In the past two years, the drought has displaced one million Somalis and about 100,000 have fled to Kenya, according to the United Nations.
At Dadaab alone, at least 6,000 Somalis fleeing hunger have arrived at the camp since the start of the year, U.N. data shows, but aid workers say the number not yet registered in the U.N. system is up to five times that number.
Those who flee often find little relief in neighbouring countries which have also been hit by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in more than four decades and are groaning under the strain of an influx of new refugees.
"The new arrivals bring a scarcity to the already little resources that are available for the population here," said Dr. Marvin Ngao, the top medical official for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid group that runs health facilities in Dadaab.
OVERCROWDING
Dadaab is a vast, dusty expanse of shops, bustling streets and makeshift houses built from white United Nations tarps. Somalis started arriving here in 1991 when their country descended into civil war.
When refugees first arrive, many depend on extended family networks within the camp to share their limited rations since it can take weeks or months to start receiving their own.
This, combined with rising food prices and poor farming and herding conditions due to the drought, means long-term camp residents are also vulnerable to hunger. In the past year, 32 children have died of malnutrition in the section of the camp run by the IRC, Ngao said.
Aid agencies are struggling to keep up. The U.N. refugee agency said it has received only about half of the $11.1 million it needs for its work in northern Kenya.
The overcrowding is also driving the spread of communicable diseases like cholera. There have been hundreds of cases since October, according to the IRC.
Nevertheless, hundreds of Somalis continue to arrive in Dadaab each day. The U.N. says there could be about 90,000 new arrivals by year-end.
Dahir Suleiman Ali, a 68-year-old farmer, had been resisting pressure from his extended family to leave Somalia for the past two years, but he had little choice when the local river dried up late last year.
"This was the worst drought I have ever seen," he said.
Reuters
Tue Feb 28 2023
Abdi Hassan Abdicadir, a malnourished 3-month-old Somali refugee, receives treatment inside the International Rescue Committee, in Hagadera refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. - REUTERS/Filepic
Qatar nantikan kata putus Malaysia dalam pelaburan Baladna
Lawatan keempat Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ke Arab Saudi sempena Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) antara lain turut memberi penekanan dalam sektor agrikultur dan sekuriti makanan. Misi ini jelas serentak dengan tema forum ini iaitu 'Kerjasama Global, Pertumbuhan dan Tenaga untuk Pembangunan' yang mana Datuk Seri Anwar berkesempatan berbincang dengan Perdana Menteri Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani mengenai hasrat pelaburan ladang tenusu terbesarnya, Baladna dikomersialkan di Malaysia.
[TERKINI] Anwar bertemu Putera Mahkota Arab Saudi
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada Isnin menghadap Putera Mahkota merangkap Perdana Menteri Arab Saudi, Mohammed Bin Salman Al-Saud.
Pertemuan yang berlangsung di Istana Al-Safa itu adalah atas undangan Kerajaan Arab Saudi seiring lawatan kerja tiga hari beliau ke Riyadh.
Pertemuan yang berlangsung di Istana Al-Safa itu adalah atas undangan Kerajaan Arab Saudi seiring lawatan kerja tiga hari beliau ke Riyadh.
SPR keluar 188 kertas undi pos
Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) mengeluarkan 188 kertas undi pos kepada pengundi yang berhak untuk mengundi secara pos pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB).
MCMC buat laporan polis
Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia (MCMC) menolak sekeras-kerasnya tohmahan tidak berasas seorang penulis blog Murray Hunter yang menuduh agensi itu dan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) sebagai institusi berlandaskan politik dalam pentadbiran kerajaan sekarang.
Malaysia mahu negara Islam sepakat henti keganasan di Gaza
Disebalik tumpuan terarah kepada usaha mengetengahkan keutamaan strategik dalam isu ekonomi, perdagangan serta pelaburan, Malaysia turut memanfaatkan platform Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) di Riyadh dengan menyuarakan sokongan berterusan kepada rakyat Palestin yang berdepan kezaliman rejim zionis Israel.
Malah, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menggunakan pertemuannya dengan pemimpin negara Islam bagi menyuarakan harapan supaya keganasan di Gaza dapat dihentikan.
Malah, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menggunakan pertemuannya dengan pemimpin negara Islam bagi menyuarakan harapan supaya keganasan di Gaza dapat dihentikan.
Pendigitalan tidak noktahkan ekosistem penerbitan buku fizikal - KP Pendidikan
Inisiatif pendigitalan industri buku tidak akan sesekali menoktahkan ekosistem penerbitan buku secara fizikal malah sebagai pelengkap dalam memartabatkan industri berkenaan.
PRK KKB: Komuniti Orang Asli perlu sokong calon PH - Ramli
Seruan itu adalah bagi mengelakkan kekeliruan dalam kalangan komuniti Orang Asli memandangkan mereka merupakan pengundi setia BN.
Malaysia manfaat platform WEF untuk suarakan kesepakatan negara-negara Islam
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menggunakan pertemuannya dengan pemimpin negara Islam bagi menyuarakan harapan agar keganasan di Gaza dihentikan.
'Geng Bob' tumpas, lima ditahan disyaki edar dadah
Kesemua suspek yang mempunyai pertalian keluarga dan aktif mengedar dadah antara enam hingga lapan bulan lalu itu ditahan jam 10.50 malam.
Anwar bertemu PM Qatar, zahirkan kesediaan Malaysia beri rawatan kepada rakyat Palestin
Perkara itu dimaklumkan oleh Anwar kepada Perdana Menteri Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani pada pertemuan dua hala.