Nairobi — "The president of America, who runs the biggest country in the world with the largest economy, should be ashamed, in my opinion."
Refugee rights groups in Kenya's sprawling Dadaab camp complex say they're facing "one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history" - the result of a sudden halt to food distribution as well as the longer term impact of aid cuts by the United States.
"Without immediate intervention, the risk of malnutrition, illness, and death increases daily," warned a statement this week by Dadaab's Refugee-Led Organisations Network (DARLON). "Refugees are losing hope."
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Food distribution to the roughly 500,000 refugees in Dadaab's three-camp complex lasted only a few days this month before being halted following a roadside shoot-out on 8 May between the Kenyan police and al-Shabab insurgents close to Dadaab.
Aid workers were temporarily withdrawn but, despite their return, food deliveries did not resume. This time, the cause was protest action by the local Kenyan community in Dadaab over a decision by the cash-strapped World Food Programme and UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to lay off around 90 locally hired aid workers and security guards.
This week, the protests escalated, with demonstrators blocking the gates to the main UN compound to demand the reinstatement of the workers. "The host community argue they don't get any other benefit from the refugees aside from employment," explained Abdinasir Mohamud of the human rights NGO Haki ne Sheria.
"Yes, but we are the ones being punished," retorted Anab Gedi Mohamed, founder of Halgan, a women's refugee-led organisation. "We are trying to do some advocacy with them to explain our situation, that we depend on that little food."
Food distributions did finally resume on 21 May - after a three-week delay. Yet the resumption brings only limited relief: "It won't solve our problems," noted refugee youth leader and journalist Mohamed Jimale. "The ration for a month is just three kilograms [of cereals] per person - that won't last somebody five days."
It will get even worse next month. WFP is being forced to cut food aid to Kenya's 720,000 refugees in June to just 28% of a full ration - the lowest level ever recorded in Kenya. It will also end all cash assistance "due to critical funding shortfalls", Mercy Juma, WFP's head of communications, said in a statement to The New Humanitarian.
"Refugees are going to start dying"
Well before the shock to the aid industry of USAID's global stop-work orders, refugees in Dadaab were facing shortfalls in humanitarian assistance.
From early last year, cuts by WFP to the monthly ration of cereals, pulses, and cooking oil meant refugees were receiving only 40% of the recommended minimum calorie intake needed to stay healthy.
That limited welfare was supplemented by an e-voucher programme enabling refugees to buy fresh produce from designated shops, providing a much-needed nutritional boost.
But the value of the e-vouchers - known as Bamba Chakula ("get your food" in Swahili) - has fallen steadily each month. In March, the cash coupon was worth around $6 per person, by May just $4 - roughly a 40% cut. The June freeze on Bamba Chakula will last "until further notice", said Juma.
"No food, no Bamba Chakula, no humanitarian support - refugees are going to start dying," said Mohamed of Halgan. "We have new refugee arrivals coming into the camp all the time. They don't know where to go or who will support them."
Radio Gargaar and The New Humanitarian
For over a year, The New Humanitarian has been working with Radio Gargaar - a community radio station based inside Dadaab - on a project we have dubbed Dadaab Voices. Its goal is to chronicle the testimonies of refugees on issues that affect them.
In addition to the WFP cuts, a key focus has been the Sharika Plan - a policy blueprint adopted earlier this year that shifts Kenya's refugee system from one based on encampment to greater integration and self-reliance; at least in theory.
In this latest episode of Dadaab Voices, Radio Gargaar asked refugees about the impact of USAID's stop-work orders, and whether the Shirika Plan could serve as a viable alternative to aid.
The following are translated excerpts from the hour-long phone-in programme broadcast last month.
The food crisis
Adan Abdi Abdullahi: "If we look at the food sector, the food WFP used to provide for the refugees has significantly decreased since the agency lost funding. In the coming months, we will, without a doubt, see many refugees who are malnourished and starving. Even now, we see many sick children who are malnourished because they lack the specialised food they used to get, and it is all connected to [US President Donald] Trump stopping the funding of aid agencies that helped refugee camps in Kenya and Africa generally.
Osman Abdullahi Osman: "The young children who are malnourished or who suffer from minor illnesses used to get nutritional biscuits and food. But that is out of the picture now. There's no such food, and the children still have severe malnutrition. It's a huge impact on refugees."
Abdullahi Abdirahman Nur: "As you know, the biggest thing WFP provided was the Bamba Chakula programme, but Bamba Chakula will end in May. Without Bamba Chakula, many families will be destroyed as they are reliant on it. If the man of the house has no job, and the Bamba Chakula is no longer there, then a clash arises, and that causes a family to break."
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan: "If America doesn't continue the humanitarian funding it provided [to] the charity agencies who work in refugee camps, the refugees will face a huge danger. And everyone will tell you this. So it would be nice if the American government had some shame regarding those poor people whose lives are in danger. The president of America, who runs the biggest country in the world with the largest economy, should be ashamed, in my opinion."
The water crisis
Hibaq Qarshe Ali: "You can't even begin to talk about the water shortage. There's a lot of suffering that resulted from this. The generator pumping water used to be on for more than eight hours a day. Now, it is on for less than four hours because of a lack of fuel. There's a short window for getting water before it runs out.
You have children, and you have to struggle and suffer to go look for water. It's a lot of suffering. You leave the small children behind, or at times you give them jerricans to fetch water - and even then you can lack water."
Ismahan Adan Said: "Some of us are forced to drink lake water - dirty water in a valley where donkeys, cows, goats, and humans all drink from. It should be recorded, and the world should see. We collect water from the same place that donkeys drink from!"
Job losses
Adan Abdi Abdullahi: "There's also the issue of the young refugee workers who were employed by aid agencies and who were providing services for their people, who have been laid off. This has resulted in an increase in gender-based violence, because the young people who used to report on the problems happening in society are no longer there."
Abdullahi Abdirahman Nur: "There has also been an increase in unemployment. The young people who were working within the camps and working for the aid agencies, they were educated and they were working for the people. Since the agencies were hit with funding cuts, many people have lost jobs, and that has led to an increase in drug abuse and other things that were initially not common in the refugee camps."
Medicine shortages
Hibaq Qarshe Ali: "People can't access medicine. You'll stand in a queue at the hospital, and when the doctor gives you a prescription, he tells you to go and buy it elsewhere because there's no medicine at the hospitals. You could be pregnant, and lying in the hospital without enough blood in your body and feeling weak, and you won't find any drips to help you. When pregnant women are taken to the hospital, they lie there weak and go into labour, and it is only by God's grace that they give birth. Otherwise, there's no medical support here. Our situation has deteriorated by 100%."
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The Shirika Plan
Mohamed Abdullahi: "For the government to introduce the Shirika Plan, to enable the refugees to be independent and free from the aid of agencies, and to work for themselves and be provided with economic inclusion, is a good thing. But if you look at it from the other side, the biggest thing refugees need is to do business and to have free movement. The Shirika Plan does not assure refugees free movement. I would say the government should include free movement for refugees in this country so they can work and get what they want. But if you restrict refugees to where they are, and tell them to only work there, I don't think there will be any major changes in their lives."
Ahmed Mohamed Hassan: "For a long time, people have been waiting to be allowed to move freely in this country. Some of them have been living here for a long time. Some were born here, raised here, and studied here, and they are not allowed to leave the camps. That kills their morale and their hopes. Someone develops an identity of themselves as a refugee who is different from other people and who is not free.
So, for a long time, people here were told that they will be allowed to move freely and go to Nairobi, Mombasa, and any other town and settle wherever they want as long as they can take care of themselves. But what has been revealed now, although I'm not very sure, is that the movement bit has been omitted from the plan. And that breaks the hearts of the people who have been waiting for this for a long time. And it makes people lose trust in the Shirika Plan."
Edited by Obi Anyadike, with additional reporting in Dadaab by Abdirizak Kahiye Maftah. Translations by Mohamed Amin Abdishukri.
