UN Launches Appeal for Somali Refugees from Laascaanood in Ethiopia

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Many of the newly arrived Somali refugees, like this elderly woman and her grandchildren, are in desperate need of shelter, clothes and blankets. © UNHCR/Nimo Ahmed Abdullahi

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia | UN agencies and partner organizations have issued a call for $116 million to provide urgent and life-saving assistance to Somali refugees who have fled to a remote area of Ethiopia's Somali region. According to the statement released on Tuesday, hostilities that broke out last month in the city of Laascaanood in Somalia's Sool region have resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Of these, nearly 100,000 refugees have crossed the border into Ethiopia to escape the violence.

Most of the refugees arriving in Ethiopia are women, children, older people, and those with specific needs, and they arrive scared and hungry with nothing. Among them, there is a high number of unaccompanied and separated children, which heightens protection concerns. The situation on the ground is critical, with moderate acute malnutrition observed in many children under five and in pregnant and nursing mothers. There is a high risk of disease outbreaks, with worrying reports of measles cases in the area.

Despite the generosity of the Ethiopian government and local communities in welcoming the refugees, the resources available are already overstretched due to the continuing arrivals. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCR's Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Region, emphasized that additional funding is urgently needed to address the acute and growing humanitarian needs of the refugees.

The funds raised will provide urgently needed shelter and relief items, such as blankets, mats, and mosquito nets. Food will also be distributed monthly to all families in need, and emergency food assistance is already being provided to meet the most immediate food and nutrition needs of new arrivals. Child protection services, prevention and response to gender-based violence, documentation, and education will be prioritized to support the high number of women and children among the refugees.

The Ethiopian government has provided land to establish refugee settlements in two sites, Mirkan and Docmo. Investments are planned to expand existing government health clinics, supply medicines and medical care, and establish nutritional support programs. Child-friendly spaces will be established to help with children's well-being, and tracing and family reunification services and alternative care arrangements for separated children will be undertaken.

Ethiopia already hosted 884,000 refugees and asylum-seekers before the recent arrivals, predominantly from South Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea. Funding levels in Ethiopia remain critically low, with the response to the drought in the Horn of Africa under severe pressure due to rapidly rising needs. As refugees continue to flee, the needs of the refugees are likely to increasingly outstrip the resources available.

GAROWE ONLINE 

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