Drought Expected to Drive Refugees, Violence in Horn of Africa

Nairobi, Kenya (March 2, 2006) — A mass movement of people across political boundaries and increasing violence against women are major concerns unless a consistent and coordinated emergency response occurs across the Horn of Africa, leading humanitarian agency CARE warned today.

The magnitude of the drought — approximately 8 million people in the worst affected countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti — could create tens of thousands of 'aid-pull' refugees drawn across traditional tribal and political boundaries in a desperate search for food and water.

Some migration has already exacerbated the problems of scarce grazing and water, and provoked fighting between clans. Women, traditionally responsible for fetching water, are also traveling longer distances and are increasingly at risk of gender-based violence in the drought affected areas.

"Emergency food and water must be provided urgently, but also uniformly across the entire region, particularly along borders between countries," said Mohammed Qazilbash, Senior Program Manager for CARE's emergency response in Kenya. "If one side of a border has food and water available, we will inevitably see people moving en masse towards it, regardless of demarcated boundaries. This will escalate cross-border tensions and could potentially catapult pockets of the Horn into violent conflict."

CARE staffers responding to the drought in the border areas of Kenya have seen evidence of increased harassment against women at water points in Mandera District, especially in the Kotulo and El Wak Divisions where herders from both Kenya and Somalia have migrated. Some women could be forced to travel up to 24 miles to fetch water at functioning boreholes, say CARE staff on the ground, which puts them at greater risk.

An organization in the Mandera District called Practical Action has reported signs of increased tensions in drought affected communities such as looting of kiosks and targeted arson. Local authorities have engaged elders in mitigating conflict and finding peaceful solutions.

CARE is increasing its response to the drought and is examining the causes of local and regional conflict to ensure that its programs involve conflict prevention and resolution measures. One of CARE's priorities is to provide water to communities where they are so that women are not required to travel long distances or cross tribal borders. In Somalia, where permanent water sources are few and far between, CARE is focusing on providing emergency water assistance.

In the North Eastern Province, one of the worst affected regions in Kenya, which borders with Somalia, CARE anticipates an influx of up to 30,000 Somali refugees in the coming weeks – drawn across the border by rumors of aid. Instability in Somalia has hindered the humanitarian response compared to the Kenyan side of the border where, despite its remoteness, relief goods have been freely and safely transported.

New refugees will be sent to the Dadaab refugee camp in the North Eastern Province of Kenya, which is already strained due to funding cuts and does not currently have the resources to provide for everyone. "The relationship between the refugees and the local Kenyan population has, through deliberate efforts, been improving in recent years," said Qazilbash. "But the drought, and the resulting scarcity of food, grazing and water, could strain this relationship. An influx of new refugees could be disastrous - tipping the balance into violence on top of the humanitarian catastrophe."

In Somalia the problem of water is particularly acute. CARE staff in the Gedo region have received reports of people dying of thirst not famine. "Chief Tuulo Barwago Hassan told us that in the Garbaharrev district nine people have died of thirst," said John Miskell of CARE who recently returned from a trip to the drought affected region of Somalia. "Across the border from El Wak, Kenya, a local organization called Somaction told us of another nine Somalis who have died of thirst."