Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "The situation is dramatic", says Suzanna Tkalec to Fides, of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which assists His Exc Mgr. Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, as President of Caritas Somalia, in handling the Somali refugees emergency (see Fides 26/07/2011), from Dadaab, home to the biggest Somali refugee camp in the world (over 400,000 people).
"In Dadaab, the CRS is working to fix the lavatories in a relocation camp where, in theory, about 800 refugees a day are transferred from the main camp", says Ms. Tkalec. "This is not enough, because from 800 to 1,300 new refugees continue to arrive in Dadaab every day. There is great need, also because the local communities are in serious difficulties", continued the responsible of Caritas. "If we look at who are the most vulnerable, in the first place we have the newly arrived refugees from Somalia, after the local communities and then refugees who have been there for a long time. The problem is that no organization works with local communities, that have also lost everything. If you also think that scarce land resources, primarily water, are shared by local communities and refugees from Somalia, we understand that there are tensions, because now there is nothing left for anybody: water reserves have run down short".
"Given that aid is distributed only to refugees, there are daily demonstrations by local Kenyans. We have got to the point that the locals try to pass themselves off as refugees. This is nothing new, because even the Kenyans in this region are of Somali origin, they have the same language, culture and tradition as refugees", says Suzanna Tkalec.
The responsible of Caritas has just returned from an assessment mission in Djibouti, where according to UN statistics, in the camp of Ali Addeh 18,000 people live. To these we must add 3,000 urban refugees. "In Ali Addeh the situation is desperate, because the camp is overcrowded", says Mrs. Tkalec. "To relieve the camp of Ali Addeh by the end of September or early October, the Holl-Holl camp should be opened. The work to be carried out to reopen this camp are challenging, because in practice it is a plot of barren land where the previous camp’s infrastructure abandoned in 2006 must be removed and then new ones can be created".
"In addition to assisting refugees, Caritas Djibouti mainly works with local communities, because they too are in a desperate situation, as is the case for rural communities in Kenya and Ethiopia", says Suzanna Tkalec. "In Djibouti, the situation is even more difficult because it is a completely desert Country. All its territory has access to water problems. Rural communities, including nomads who have lost everything, in particular the herd of animals, are approaching the towns. Consequently, the resources become scarce for all", concluded the head of Caritas. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/09/2011)
