© UNHCR/L.Padoan

In partnership with the Ethiopian government and the International Organisation for Migration, the UN refugee agency, on Friday began the relocation of nearly 15,000 Somali refugees who have been living in a crowded transit centre in the eastern region of Dollo Ado.

The refugees will be taken to the new Hilaweyn camp, the fourth in the Dollo Ado area. The International Organization for Migration expects to relocate 1,000 refugees daily to the new camp over the next two weeks.

In north-east Kenya, the number of daily arrivals of Somali refugees in the three Dadaab camps has increased to an average of almost 1,500 in the first four days of August – up from 1,300 a day in July. Over 116,000 Somali refugees have arrived in Dadaab so far this year. About 76,000 of them arrived in Dadaab in the last two months alone. Since early June, more than 41,000 refugees have been registered by the Kenya government and issued with ration cards.

Refugees who have settled in the outskirts of one of the Dadaab camps, in areas unsuitable for habitation, are currently being moved to a new site, Ifo Extension. Over 12,000 refugees have been relocated to the tented site. By the end of November, UNHCR plans to move 180,000 refugees to Ifo Extension and another site which is now being prepared. Dadaab was designed to handle 90,000 people when it opened in 1991, and now struggles to cope with a population of around 400,000.

UNHCR still faces a critical shortage of funds for its emergency operations in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Unless new funds are swiftly committed, this shortfall will impact vital humanitarian assistance for tens of thousands of Somali refugees and internally displaced people.