Nairobi — The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed for renewed international support for assistance to a new wave of refugees from Somalia fleeing chaos and violence. Although the border between Somalia and Kenya is closed, the Government of Kenya has granted access to Somali asylum seekers.

An estimated 1,000 new arrivals have crossed south into Kenya every week – nearly 12,000 have arrived in Dadaab camp since the start of the year. The majority of them are from Mogadishu, Kismayo and middle and lower Juba region. “We are battling to cope with a substantial rise in new arrivals,” said UNHCR Representative in Kenya Liz Ahua. “Conditions in Somalia have deteriorated terribly in recent months and the people now crossing into Kenya are desperate and in need of immediate support.”

The three camps around Dadaab in northern Kenya are very congested – the current population in each is already three times the recommended level. UNHCR has been able to make use of the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to begin addressing the most critical issues such as shelter, clean water and sanitation. UNHCR has also opened a reception point at Liboi on the Somali/Kenyan border to screen and register people crossing from Somalia. The reception point was closed early last year after the closure of the border. UNHCR’s planning figure for 2008 is for up to 40,000 new arrivals.

The UN refugee agency estimates that it will require approximately US$ 3.8 million to address the needs of the new refugees. UNHCR is currently using its annual allocation to meet the additional needs that had not been budgeted for under this year’s programme. WFP food is life-saving and critical for keeping malnutrition at bay in the camps, particularly the milled, culturally preferred cereals and mineral-rich corn-soya blend. The preliminary results of a February 2008 nutrition survey indicate acute malnutrition rates among young children are just below the emergency threshold of 15 percent, but still worryingly high. In an effort to address alarming anaemia rates, an indicator of chronic malnutrition, WFP is to introduce double-fortified salt as part of the monthly food ration in Dadaab. WFP requires a further US$ 13 million to feed the current caseload of refugees and the expected new arrivals for the rest of the year. Breaks in food supplies are currently forecast for September, unless new donations are forthcoming.

“A pledge confirmed now will take at least four months to reach the camps in northern Kenya which is why we need to ask for assistance at this time,” said WFP Kenya Country Director Burkard Oberle. “We are facing a new and sterner challenge in the face of such a large number of new arrivals – we won’t be able to succeed without the necessary financial support.”