Influx of Somali refugees in Dadaab worries Doctors Without Borders

NAIROBI, Kenya - The influx of refugees crossing over from Somalia to one of the biggest refugee camps in the world; Dadaab is now worrying Doctors Without Borders, who have now raised concerns about the health of the people due to the spiking rate of diseases.

Doctors Without Borders argue that the Kenyan camp could be home to diseases such as cholera and measles, adding that the international community should chip in and assist to administer vaccines that would help the highly popularly handle emergencies pertaining to diseases.

"Every week hundreds of people arrive from Somalia to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya," the NGO said in a statement. The camp is already home to more than 233,000 refugees, thousands of whom arrived this year.

MSF warns of the "high risk of disease outbreaks" due to overcrowding. It has therefore appealed to organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] for an "urgent response" in the form of vaccination campaigns.

Currently, Somalia is facing a devastating drought that has caused hunger across the country, forcing people to flee to refugee camps. In addition, the country is facing an Al-Shabaab resurgence despite efforts to eliminate the group, triggering massive arrivals of people in Kenya.

The southern part of the country is the most affected, with the local militia and Somalia National Army mounting a serious operation against the militants. This, the agency says, has also forced some locals to cross the border for safety reasons.

"Vaccination coverage is low in Somalia and there is no system in place to receive and diagnose new arrivals in Kenya, so diseases can spread quickly (...), particularly among children," said MSF's deputy program director for Kenya, Arián Guadarrama.

"Even a few isolated cases of measles or cholera can cause a huge outbreak in crowded camps where there is hardly any clean water, sewage, or hygiene," he added.

GAROWE ONLINE