The World Food Programme (WFP) cannot reach 2.2 million Somalis in desperate need of aid in militant-controlled areas of Somalia, WFP’s director said on Saturday, meaning refugee camps in nearby Kenya and Ethiopia are likely to continue seeing thousands of new refugees each week.
The needs of those in Somalia’s expanding famine zone are extraordinary, prompting parents to sweep up their small children and start a dangerous walk that can last days or weeks — one that many die on. Livestock have perished and crops no longer grow after consecutive rains failed to fall in south-central Somalia.
The journey is so long and so perilous that few Somalis are eager to return to their war-torn homeland, a facet of the dual crisis of the Somalia conflict and Horn of Africa famine that has Kenyan officials — who are only reluctantly accepting more refugees — in a bind.
Photo: Reuters
Josette Sheeran, the executive director of WFP, traveled to eastern Kenya on Saturday to visit the drought-stricken town of Garissa and the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab. Sheeran talked with refugees who just completed the perilous trek from Somalia, and asked if they would consider returning if conditions improve.
“I walked 25 days to get here. I have no money,” a translator quoted a refugee as telling Sheeran.
He said he had passed many others on the sandy route to Dadaab who dropped off the pace and never made it here.
“He said he can’t go back anytime soon,” the translator said.
So many people are in need in Somalia because the militant group al-Shabab will not let aid in. The group, in fact, denies a famine is taking place, disputing the UN’s view that tens of thousands of people have already died.
WFP cannot operate without the militant’s permission — 14 WFP employees have been killed there since 2008.
Sheeran called Somalia “the riskiest environment we operate in the world today.”
Al-Shabab signaled early this month that it would accept aid groups it had previously banned, but changed course on Thursday, saying groups such as WFP are not welcome. The group’s refusal to accept aid from Western and “Christian” aid groups means millions could starve — or be forced to begin the hike to help to Kenya, Ethiopia or Mogadishu, the Somali capital, which is also being overwhelmed with refugees.
“We know that the epicenter of this famine and drought are in Somalia. We are able to reach about 1.5 million people in Somalia, but there’s about 2.2 million people that are not able to be reached,” Sheeran said. “We welcome the opening to look to ways to reach people. We’ll talk with local authorities and we’ll act where we can go.”
Steering clear of the sensitive politics, Sheeran did not use the word al-Shabab. However, it was clear that’s what “local authorities” meant.
She said that famine would likely expand to more areas as insecurity persists and aid is prevented. The UN fears tens of thousands of people already have died in the famine. WFP estimates more than 11.3 million people need aid across drought-hit regions in East Africa.
The drought has created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.
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