The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a UN agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 17,300 staff working in 135 countries.
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced people. Usually, refugees seek asylum after they have escaped war in their home countries, but some camps also house environmental and economic migrants. Camps with over a hundred thousand people are common, but as of 2012, the average-sized camp housed around 11,400. They are usually built and run by a government, the United Nations, international organizations, or non-governmental organization. Unofficial refugee camps, such as Idomeni in Greece or the Calais jungle in France, are where refugees are largely left without support of governments or international organizations.
Kakuma is a town in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp, established in 1992. The population of Kakuma town was 60,000 in 2014, having grown from around 8,000 in 1990. In 1991, the camp was established to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan and from camps in Ethiopia.
Dadaab is a semi-arid town in Garissa County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR base hosting 223,420 registered refugees and asylum seekers in three camps as of 13 May 2019, making it the third-largest such complex in the world. The center is run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and its operations are financed by foreign donors. In 2013, UNHCR, the governments of Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement facilitating the repatriation of Somali refugees at the complex.
Lokichogio, is a town in the Turkana District in northwest Kenya. It is often called Loki for short. The town lies on the A1 road, and is served by the Lokichogio Airport.
Alight, formerly the American Refugee Committee (ARC), is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 40 years.
Various international and local diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War have been in effect since the conflict first began in the early 1990s. The latter include diplomatic initiatives put together by the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union, as well as humanitarian efforts led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) and the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS).
The Norwegian Refugee Council is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement. This includes refugees and internally displaced persons who are forced to flee their homes as a result of conflict, human rights violations and acute violence, as well as climate change and natural disasters.
Bruno Geddo is an Italian national, born in Novara in 1959. He has served with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for over 30 years in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East.
REFUNITE is a non-profit organization established by two Danish brothers, David and Christopher Mikkelsen with the stated mission to "help refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) search for their missing loved ones." It focuses on online and mobile solutions to help families reconnect. Families can search for their missing loved ones by simply registering onto REFUNITE's family tracing platform. The REFUNITE family reconnection platform allows users to register, search for and message their missing loved ones that have also signed up on the platform.
Sudanese refugees are persons originating from the country of Sudan, but seeking refuge outside the borders of their native country. In recent history, Sudan has been the stage for prolonged conflicts and civil wars, as well as environmental changes, namely desertification. These forces have resulted not only in violence and famine but also the forced migration of large numbers of the Sudanese population, both inside and outside the country's borders. Given the expansive geographic territory of Sudan, and the regional and ethnic tensions and conflicts, much of the forced migration in Sudan has been internal. Yet, these populations are not immune to similar issues that typically accompany refugeedom, including economic hardship and providing themselves and their families with sustenance and basic needs. With the creation of a South Sudanese state, questions surrounding southern Sudanese IDPs may become questions of South Sudanese refugees.
By January 2011 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are 262,900 Sudanese refugees in Chad. The majority of them left Sudan escaping from the violence of the ongoing Darfur crisis, which began in 2003. UNHCR has given the Sudanese refugees shelter in 12 different camps situated along the Chad–Sudan border. The most pressing issues UNHCR has to deal with in the refugee camps in Chad are related to insecurity in the camps,, malnutrition, access to water, HIV and AIDS, and education.
Between July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe drought affected the entire East African region. Said to be "the worst in 60 years", the drought caused a severe food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya that threatened the livelihood of 9.5 million people. Many refugees from southern Somalia fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where crowded, unsanitary conditions together with severe malnutrition led to a large number of deaths. Other countries in East Africa, including Sudan, South Sudan and parts of Uganda, were also affected by a food crisis.
In 1994, the Rwandan genocide unfolded before the world's eyes and with it, several hundred thousand people were murdered in the heart of Africa. At this time, Dr. Dawit Zawde, a medical doctor in Ethiopia, noticed the lack of an African response and organized a medical team to respond out of Kigali. Formally launched in Addis Ababa, within months of its opening, Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA) sent two teams of young health and relief professionals during the Rwandan crisis. These professionals hailed from seven African countries—Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guinea, Malawi, Rwanda, and Senegal, becoming the first African-only NGO operating in Rwanda. The AHA teams targeted returnee populations and the internally displaced as they were deployed at two health centers, one in the northwest region at Tare in the Kigali Prefecture and a second at Kabarondo in Kibungo Prefecture in the southeast. They provided unprecedented 24-hour emergency health services and regular out and in-patient care. As the operation in Rwanda grew, AHA decided to extend their presence to other countries in Africa. By the end of 1995, AHA had moved to Uganda, Angola and began operations in Ethiopia. By the end of 1999, the framework that was implemented in Eastern and Central Africa by AHA had now been transferred to offices in Western Africa.
Ger Duany, born 1978 in Akobo, Greater Upper Nile in South Sudan, is an actor. He is a self-described “village boy”.
Kenya–Somalia relations are bilateral relations between Kenya and Somalia.
Not to be confused with the World Doctors Alliance Alliance of International Doctors is an organization established by a group of volunteer doctors, pharmacists, dentists, and nurses in Istanbul in 2011. AID provides medical assistance to the people in the regions affected by disasters and poverty. The president of the organization is Dr. Mevlit Yurtseven.
South Sudanese refugees are persons originating from the African country of South Sudan, but seeking refuge outside the borders of their native country. The world's youngest independent country has a recent and troubled history of prolonged conflicts and ecosystem mismanagement such as overlogging, which has led to desertification. These forces have resulted not only in violence and famine, but also the forced migration of large numbers of the population, both inside and outside the country's borders. South Sudan was cited as the largest refugee crisis in 2016, being the world's third largest, followed by Syria and Afghanistan.
Hakim Monykuer Awuok is a South Sudanese and he works as Deputy Director of Resolutions at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, South Sudan. He is also an AG/ Deputy Director Protocol, Public and External Relations, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Mercy Akuot Marang is a South Sudanese social activist and singer. She currently lives in Kenya.
US$3.093 million [1]