IOM teams in Kenya have completed the pitching of 8,315 tents
providing shelter to 30,000 Somalis displaced by drought who could
not be accommodated at the heavily over-crowded Daadab refugee
camp.

The tents have been pitched on an extended site at IFO 2, close
to Dadaab which is currently hosting more than 463,000 Somali
refugees.

The Somalis have been arriving in north-eastern Kenya from
Somalia since early this year following the onset of
drought-related famine in several parts of the country. More than
1,400 Somali refugees were arriving at Dadaab at the peak of the
crisis, though those numbers have now dropped to less than 100 a
day.

The work to pitch the tents started on the 9th August, but had
to be stopped in October for over a month due to insecurity and a
lack of tents. By this time, more than 7,650 tents had been put up,
providing shelter for 27,000 people.

Three thousand Somalis will be relocated to the newly pitched
tents at IFO 2 extension before the end of the year by IOM. They
have been living in and around Dagahaley on the outskirts of Dadaab
in makeshift tents unable to protect them from the elements
including heavy rains which have worsened their living
conditions.

Their relocation to IFO 2 and to proper tents will not only
provide better protection from the weather but will reduce their
vulnerability to illnesses and snake bites. It will also mean they
will receive more systematic humanitarian aid and services.

Meanwhile, IOM, in collaboration with UNHCR and the Ethiopian
government’s Administration for Refugees and Returnees
Affairs (ARRA), is continuing to relocate displaced Somalis in
Ethiopia. The Somalis are being taken from the overcrowded Dollo
Ado Transit camp to the new Bur Amino camp. Nearly 1,500 people
have been transported since the opening of Bur Amino on 30th
November.

Dollo Ado has recently witnessed an increase in the number of
new arrivals from Somalia.  Since early December, more than
700 Somalis have been arriving at the centre daily in comparison to
the less than 500 daily arrivals over the past three months.

IOM staff on the ground say heavy rains which had made rivers
swell and roads impassable had hindered the flight of some of the
Somalis to Ethiopia.

For further information please contact:

Joseph Kabiru

IOM Kenya

Tel: +254 20 269 9800

       +254 20 269 9801

Mobile: +254 0706 000 784

E-mail: "mailto:jkabiru@iom.int">jkabiru@iom.int

and

Demissew Bizuwork

IOM Ethiopia

Tel: +251 116 611 117 (Ext 455)

Mobile:  +251 911 652 102 

E-mail: "mailto:bdemissew@iom.int">bdemissew@iom.int