Hello everyone. I'm Makena. I'm a volunteer of the Dadaab refugee camps complex which is in northern Kenya. It was designed in1991 to hold only 90,000 refugees from the civil war in Somalia. Last year the government of Kenya was planning to close it.
Yet, Kenya itself faces a disastrous situation caused by a drought and food supply disruptions. Those crumbs we received this Spring did not last long. More than 50,000 refugees arrived from the neighbor Somalia, at the same time.
Now, the question is to expand Dadaab instead of closing it. This happens in the face of an impending local humanitarian catastrophe. Kenya has been suffering the same three-year drought, as the Horn of Africa nations. It was followed by a period of flash flooding that destroyed what little crops were left. This disaster also destroyed a lot of houses and infrastructure, and resulted in many deaths of my co-nationals.
Together with Dr. Sharma and Dr. Udayraj, the coordinators of the Doctors without Borders international medical humanitarian organization, we contacted the Turkish and Albanian migration authorities. They promised to assist in transferring of Somalia refugees to European countries.
But so far, they are ready to accept small groups of 30-40 people, since they receive similar requests from Lebanon, and Afghanistan, and Horn of Africa nations. There are more than 32 million people are in desperate need because of extreme drought in this region.
According to the UN info, last year a massive famine claimed the lives of at least 43,000 Somalis - half of them children under five. 6 million Ethiopians lost the roof over their heads and livelihoods because of civil war. Entire families from those nations, as well as my native Kenya are forced to leave their homes and wander over the peninsula in search of food.
Despite the crisis, A UN Pledging event on May 24 failed to raise even a fifth part of a scheduled sum to save starving mothers with little kids in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Turkish refugee camps authorities would readily accept more people in transit if their further placement in European countries or the United Kingdom is guaranteed.
We quite understand that the EU states have been on the edge of migration crisis because of military conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. That is why we're seeking for donors ready to take African refugees at least for a while. They could be private entrepreneurs or just good people willing to do a good deed.
And yes, those refugees are impoverished, uneducated, and social non-adapted by European standards. But they similarly suffered by a war.
I've been placing this appeal at all available web resources. We look forward for your responses and proposals.
Please, text me in private If you want to help without revealing personal data. Would appreciate for sharing the info about disastrous situation in East Africa.
Respectfully,
Makena