The humanitarian organization Save the Children says the world’s largest refugee camp is filled to overflowing. The Dadaab complex in northeastern Kenya houses Somalis fleeing drought and conflict in their homeland.
“The situation in Dadaab is that around 1,300 people continue to arrive every day, fleeing a combination of factors in Somalia, namely, at the moment, the drought,” said Mike Sunderland, spokesman for Save the Children. Eight hundred, or 80%, are children, and most of the others are women.
They are arriving after having undergone some incredibly distressing journeys to the camp -- having walked sometimes for up to a month through searing heat. Their feet are covered in blood and sores from their journey,” said Sunderland, and they are in urgent need of food.
In addition to supplying aid to children in the Dadaab camp, Sunderland said Save the Children is working throughout east Africa, including Somalia and northeast Kenya, trying to respond to as many as the children’s needs as possible.
