Kenya Bans Entry to Camps - (We Go Inside Locked Down Camp)

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Kenya Bans Entry to Two Refugee Camps Hosting 400,000 People

As part of a containment strategy against coronavirus, movement in and out of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps is now restricted but UNHCR says this does not represent a “significant change” for the refugees. Movement passes out of the area was halted in March but now host communities are blocked from leaving the area altogether and movement into the area is restricted with humanitarian movement allowed on a case by case basis but aid entry is permissible. UNHCR has reportedly altered operations in both camps to avoid gatherings and plans to distribute two months food rations at once to reduce contact between residents and humanitarian workers. Health and social distancing information is being shared via mobile phone apps like WhatsApp. Kenya has yet to record any cases in the two camps, which houses 217,000 people in eastern Kenya in Dadaab along the Somali border, and 190,000 in northwestern Kenya along the South Sudanese border, respectively. The majority of refugees hail from Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Health experts and humanitarians warn a COVID-19 outbreak in either camp would be catastrophic, where Dadaab has a quarantine capacity for only 2,000 people and one dedicated COVID-19 health facility with 110 beds. (Al Jazeera)

Bonus

The above footage was sent to us from Ethiopian refugee and Kakuma refugee camp resident Korsamo who wanted to show us life in the camp today after the lockdown and new restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Korsamo came to Kakuma several years ago to seek refuge from persecution, where he met his wife and now has a family of three. He usually supplements his food rations with a meager income earned as a moto driver. Now, under the new restrictions, the usual hustle and bustle in the camp, (which we have witnessed first hand while living and working there) has come to a standstill, and with it, his income. For more on life in Kakuma, check out the film Invisible City, shot on location in Kakuma by filmmaker Lieven Corthouts known to us during our time in Kakuma. 

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Why Refugees are an Asset in the Coronavirus Fight

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Why Refugees are an Asset in the Fight Against Coronavirus

The authors, refugee advocates and authors of a new book that highlights the important contributions of refugee-led organizations, now turn that focus to the ongoing refugee response to prevent the spread of coronavirus in places where NGOs and the UN are constrained. In Uganda, home to 1.4 million refugees, refugee-led organizations are responding in both camps and cities. In the Nakivale Settlement, the Wakati Foundation is employing refugees to sew and distribute masks, while also raising community awareness about the virus. In Arua, the Global Society Initiative for Peace and Democracy is conducting hygiene and sanitation information campaigns to slow the spread of the virus. In the urban refugee center of Kampala, fears of the secondary economic problems the pandemic creates are acute as the lockdown restricts access to essential food and health needs. UNHCR acknowledges its struggle to meet  the needs of urban refugees and so again, refugee-led organization Hope for Children and Women Victims of Violence is filling critical gaps through distribution of food and soap to over 400 refugees, while another refugee-led organization is distributing food and soap to 200 vulnerable households. Similar responses are taking place in Nairobi, Kenya in the refugee-crowded Eastleigh neighborhood. The 2016 World Humanitarian Summit “Grand Bargain” recognized people affected by crises as first responders, and yet, these organizations remain on the periphery of the humanitarian system that still enforces a separation between the provider and the beneficiary because of stringent standards and compliance that hitherto have not allowed these organizations an opportunity. The unique challenges imposed by the novel coronavirus may prove an opportunity to examine the asymmetry within the system and highlight the valuable role played by refugee-led organizations to ensure their contribution is recognized by UN agencies and donor governments. In turn, with effective training and capacity building, new humanitarian partnerships can emerge that are both participatory and inclusive. (The Conversation)

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Kenya Restricts Movement in Refugee Camps; Bonus: We Go Inside One of Kenya's Largest Camps

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Kenya Bans Entry to Two Refugee Camps Hosting 400,000 People

As part of a containment strategy against coronavirus, movement in and out of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps is now restricted but UNHCR says this does not represent a “significant change” for the refugees. Movement passes out of the area was halted in March but now host communities are blocked from leaving the area altogether and movement into the area is restricted with humanitarian movement allowed on a case by case basis but aid entry is permissible. UNHCR has reportedly altered operations in both camps to avoid gatherings and plans to distribute two months food rations at once to reduce contact between residents and humanitarian workers. Health and social distancing information is being shared via mobile phone apps like WhatsApp. Kenya has yet to record any cases in the two camps, which houses 217,000 people in eastern Kenya in Dadaab along the Somali border, and 190,000 in northwestern Kenya along the South Sudanese border, respectively. The majority of refugees hail from Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Health experts and humanitarians warn a COVID-19 outbreak in either camp would be catastrophic, where Dadaab has a quarantine capacity for only 2,000 people and one dedicated COVID-19 health facility with 110 beds. (Al Jazeera)

Bonus

The below footage was sent to us from Ethiopian refugee and Kakuma refugee camp resident Korsamo who wanted to show us life in the camp today after the lockdown and new restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Korsamo came to Kakuma several years ago to seek refuge from persecution, where he met his wife and had three children together. He usually supplements his food rations with a meager income earned as a moto driver but now under the new restrictions, the usual hustle and bustle in the camp, (which we have witnessed first hand while living and working there) has come to a standstill, and with it, his income. For more on life in Kakuma, check out the film Invisible City, shot on location in the camp by filmmaker Lieven Corthouts known to us during our time in Kakuma. 

Life in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya during Covid-19 lockdwon

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Flooding Displaces Thousands in Kenya

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Flooding Sweeps Kenya, Displacing Thousands

Abnormally heavy rains across East Africa and the run-off from storms in the Ethiopian highlands that caused flash flooding in neighboring Somalia as well, has now left thousands homeless and without their farms in western Kenya after the River Nzoia broke its bank on Saturday. These are secondary displacements for some who were made homeless earlier by conflict and climate shocks. According to the UN’s Emergency Aid Coordination Office (OCHA), the rising river levels are already at unprecedented levels usually seen at the end of May. Rains across west, central and southeast Kenya have lasted over a week, triggering river overflows, mudslides and floods. Already, 116 people have died across 29 of Kenya’s 47 counties. Damaged roads and bridges have made access to shelter and health facilities a huge challenge, now made worse by fears of coronavirus spread due to overcrowding. The Kenya Red Cross has asked for additional shelters and suggested an integrated approach to COVID-19 prevention and flood response. (The New Humanitarian) 

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In Today's News: Refugees Face Threat of Coronavirus; Conflict, Climate, Contagion; As Himalayas Warm, Nepal's Climate Migrants Suffer; East Africa's Locusts are Back, Stronger Than Ever

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Refugees Worldwide Now Face Threat of Coronavirus

About 10 million of the world’s 70 million refugees live in crowded camps and informal settlements. Almost no refugees living in these camps have been tested for the virus, and testing, in short supply in New York, is non-existent in the global south, where ventilators, gloves and masks are scant. A review by Norwegian Refugee Council of 30 countries found virtually no testing before people became sick - many in cramped and abysmal quarters making social distancing and frequent hand-washing near impossible. Refugees have tested positive in Italy, Germany, Iran, Australia and Greece, where 150 people living in a quarantined hotel for asylum-seekers had contracted the virus. In Syria’s war-ravaged Idlib province, where 200 tests have been carried out but no cases yet exist, only one small health facility is ready to treat, but elsewhere, where cases have appeared, 350 health facilities have been bombed, over 900 medical staff have been killed and countless more have fled. In Cox’s Bazaar, the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, aid workers are racing to build isolation facilities, while in Kenya’s two largest refugee camps, Kakuma and Dadaab, where refugees have lived for decades in exile, there are no tests, no intensive care units and no ventilators, and fears are that the worst is yet to come. (LA Times)

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Conflict, Climate and Contagion: Refugees Suffer

As countries shut their borders and refugee resettlement operations grind to a halt, refugees in camps and urban settlements grow ever more vulnerable to the Coronavirus, where social distancing seems largely a privilege. Cox’s Bazaar - the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh - has twice the density of New York City, the current pandemic epicenter. Overcrowded settlements exemplify conflict, climate and contagion’s interconnectedness - all leading reasons for flight. The response to Covid-19 has highlighted the challenges of response in the face of limited resources - prompting questions of whether to treat the elderly over the young or the current workforce? These same ethical questions easily translate to groups defined by immigration status and borders as well, and while the virus has everything to do with mobility, it is migration that has been demonized. And all the while, it is migrants all over the world who have made significant contributions as frontline and essential workers in the medical fields, food and health services that keep the pandemic response moving along. (Newsroom) 

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As Himalayas Warm, Nepal’s Climate Migrants Struggle to Survive

High in the Himalayas in a village called Dhye, an exodus of migrants has begun, forced by  dwindling crops, the closed school, and essentially, life made impossible by climate change. Millions of South Asians are at risk as glacial melt has accelerated and with it, made land barren and remapped the Himalayan region, forcing mountain dwellers to build life anew at lower altitudes. One of the most comprehensive studies on mountain warming last year revealed that even if the most ambitious climate change targets were met, at least one-third of the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2100, and warnings are that rising temperatures could spread malaria and dengue to new areas of the region, where mosquitoes have already started to appear in the highlands. Nepal is considered ground zero for the impacts of climate change and while the number of impacted migrants are unknown, local officials estimate it to be in the thousands with officials planning to track the impacts of rising temperatures for the first time in an upcoming census. The climate change migrants who have already left face numerous challenges in resettlement, where new residents have no legal right to land. (NY Times) 

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Two New Generations of Locusts are Set to Descend on East Africa Again - 400 Times Stronger

Already farmers and herders across Kenya are reporting the large swathes in an infestation which first arrived last June and wreaked havoc across eight countries. Scientists say they never left and will only increase this year due to higher than average rainfall. East Africa, already a food insecure region for 20 million people, now faces additional challenges made worse by conflict, climate shocks and the expected rise in Covid-19 cases, and experts fear that up to 100% of farmers’ budding crops could be destroyed. Efforts to mitigate losses are underway but Covid-19 poses new challenges with country lockdowns and supply chain disruptions in pesticide shipments. Already, Somalia is three weeks behind in locust control pesticides due to Covid-19. If control activities fail, up to an additional 5 million could be food insecure in East Africa by June. (Quartz Africa)