SOMALIA: Thousands stranded near the Kenyan border

Photo: Mohamed Garane/IRIN

The displaced in Bulo Hawo: With the expected onset of the short rains, the IDPs face the growing threat of disease outbreak at their makeshift camps, which are located near the town’s rubbish site

NAIROBI, 6 October 2009 (IRIN) - At least 5,000 conflict- and drought-displaced Somalis are facing an uncertain future in Bulo Hawo, a town controlled by Al-Shabab on the border with Kenya, locals told IRIN on 6 October.

"There are about 900 families [5,400 people], mostly in a makeshift camp in no-man's land on the outskirts of town, hoping to cross into Kenya," said Ugas Mohamed Sheikh Ahmed, a senior elder in Bulo Hawo.

He said most of these families had fled the violence in Mogadishu while others had been displaced by drought.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR Kenya) told IRIN: “Although we are not present in Mandera [on the Kenyan side of the border], we are in touch with authorities there. Most refugees are, however, entering Kenya through Liboi [to reach the Dadaab camp, 590km southwest of Bulo Hawo].”

Ahmed said some of the would-be refugees were being hosted by relatives in the small town. "Almost all families in Bulo Hawo are hosting other families. We have been announcing in mosques for locals to come forward with help.

"As of now there has been no assistance from any quarter," Ahmed said. The locals were doing all they could to help "but some of them are no better off than the displaced".

He said many families continued to arrive from Mogadishu daily, "but others are also coming from the countryside after losing all their livestock".

Photo: Mohamed Garane/IRIN

The site where thousands of displaced Somalis are camping at Bulo Hawo, near the Kenyan border

Border blocked

Orow Nasjel, an internally displaced person (IDP) from Mogadishu, told IRIN she arrived in Bulo Hawo three months ago after her husband was killed by a stray shell.

"I just took my children and came here to find safety for the rest of my family." So far she had failed to cross into Kenya. "They won't let us in; I don’t know why," Nasjel said.

A local journalist, who requested anonymity, told IRIN the people were not allowed to enter Kenya through the Mandera border post. "They have to go to the Dadaab camp."

However, Hassan Isak Abdi, another IDP, said the displaced did not have the means to reach Dadaab. "We cannot even afford to buy one meal for our children; how can we pay for transport [to Dadaab]?"

Many of the displaced were surviving on help from the local community and odd jobs in Bulo Hawo, he added.

Abdi said the displaced lacked even the basics. "We eat when we get something from the town's people or find some work. I hope we will be allowed to cross to Kenya. At least there you find some help."

With the expected onset of the deyr (short) rains, the IDPs face the growing threat of disease outbreak at their makeshift camps, which are located near the town’s rubbish site.

"There are no health facilities and health workers to assist them [IDPs]," said the journalist. "The most pressing needs are shelter, food, water and some form of healthcare."

ah/mw