NAIROBI: Hundreds of refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camps have been affected by a cholera outbreak as the population in the facilities grows rapidly, a humanitarian charity said Tuesday.
Doctors Without Borders, known by French acronym MSF, said that 2,786 refugees have been affected so far “and there is an imminent risk of outbreaks of other gastro-intestinal diseases.”
The Dadaab camps host more than 300,000 people and with the biting drought in neighboring Somalia, the numbers are on the rise, consequently straining water and sanitation services.
There are plans to open another camp in the complex to accommodate new arrivals and ease overcrowding.
“All efforts to ease the overcrowding must include significant investment in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector to ensure a minimum standard of living for refugees in all the camps,” said Hassan Maiyaki, MSF country director in Kenya.
MSF has urged stakeholders to respond urgently to the crisis in Dadaab and address sanitary conditions and prevent the further spread of diseases.
In 2016, the Kenyan government had announced plans to close down the Dadaab camps, citing insecurity because of reports that extremists from Somalia’s Al-Shabab group were hiding there and the camps being a conduit for smuggling weapons.
The United Nations urged Kenya to reconsider that plan and continue to offer refuge to victims of violence and trauma.
The discussion on the closure has since then been on and off, with several ultimatums given to the UN refugee agency, the latest being in 2021.
Humanitarian group MSF calls for support for refugees in Kenya affected by cholera crisis
https://arab.news/zhwuw
Humanitarian group MSF calls for support for refugees in Kenya affected by cholera crisis
- Hundreds of refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camps have been affected by a cholera outbreak as the population in the facilities grows rapidly
- A biting drought in neighboring Somalia has increased the camps’ numbers
Trump threatens military operation against Colombia, after Venezuela raid
- Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened military action against Colombia’s government, telling reporters that such an operation “sounds good to me.”
“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.
Asked directly whether the US would pursue a military operation against the country, Trump answered, “It sounds good to me.”
The comments came after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.
