© UNHCR/R.Gangale

An increasing number of Somali civilians are fleeing their country amid the deteriorating security situation, with 50,000 arriving in neighbouring countries in the first quarter of this year compared to 23,000 in the same period in 2010.

Kenya again received most of the new arrivals – more than 31,400. Virtually all of them have been registered by the Kenyan authorities and UNHCR in Dadaab refugee camp complex.

UNHCR has also noted a sharp rise in the number of Somali refugees arriving in Ethiopia and has registered over 12,200 Somalis crossing the border. We are running two refugee camps in the Dollo Ado corridor, where most are crossing, but both camps are fast reaching their maximum capacity.

The majority of these refugees came from the Bay and Bakol regions of southern and central Somalia – two of the major conflict zones in the country. They all speak of a grim situation inside the country, marked by relentless violence and human rights abuses. Somali refugees told UNHCR staff about forced conscription by some of the warring parties and crippling drought.

The dire situation in Somalia is leaving no alternative for many, forcing them to take a desperate decision to cross the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea to Yemen. Despite the risks involved and the anti-government unrest in Yemen, more than 22,000 refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa arrived on Yemeni shores during the first three months of this year. This is more than twice the number of arrivals during the first quarter of 2010, when 9,400 people reached Yemen.

UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming stated that some of the new arrivals “were unaware of the political and social upheaval in Yemen, but many coming from Somalia said they had no other option but to flee. For these Somali refugees the situation in Yemen was still, by comparison, much safer than the one back home."

Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world. An estimated 1.4 million Somalis are displaced within the country while another 680,000 live overseas as refugees.