Hundreds of Somali children are dying as they trek to the world’s biggest refugee camp amid the Horn of Africa’s worsening food crisis, the UN warned on Monday.
Elhadj As Sy, Unicef’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa, said many youngsters were so weak from starvation that they died before reaching the Dadaab camp in Kenya.
The overcrowded United Nations site houses more than 370 000 civilians who have fled Somalia’s civil war and a devastating drought which has left up to ten million at risk.
As Sy said: “Thousands arrive at this camp every day as they were denied the basic human rights of water, food and dignity. Hundreds of children have died on the way to the camps.”
His warning comes just days after Somalia’s Islamist government said it would lift a ban on foreign aid agencies acting in the areas it controls.
In recent years most international groups have pulled out of the country amid fears aid workers could be targeted by militants loyal to the al-Shabab government.
UN emergency officials are working to clear a backlog of refugees waiting to register at the camp.
Last week Britain announced it would donate an extra £38 million to help feed those at Dadaab and other
Source: The Independent
No comments:
Post a Comment