Archive for March 19th, 2012

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19/03/2012

The World’s Largest Refugee Complex, Unwanted

Human Wrongs Watch

By Daniel Plaut – Think Africa Press* – After 20 years, Kenyan officials are talking of closing down the world’s largest refugee camp, but to those who call it home, would repatriation be another form of exile?

Aerial view of Dadaab refugee complex. Photo by Andy Hall.

This year, Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee complex, turns 20 years old.

Established in Kenya in 1991, as a response to the influx of Somalis fleeing their homes in midst of civil war, Dadaab was originally designed to host 90,000 people. As of this month, it holds around 450,000, according to the UNHCR.

With climate specialists now predicting a return of last year’s drought conditions to the region, this number is expected to rise substantially within the next six months.

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Posted in Africa, Mother Earth, The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

19/03/2012

Yemen: New Outbreak of the Big Killer of Children — Measles

Human Wrongs Watch

A massive vaccination campaign, launched by the UN, is under way in Yemen, where a new outbreak of measles has killed at least 126 children under the age of five.

*Children in Al-Mazrak IDP camp in Haradh, northern Yemen. Photo: OCHA

The campaign, supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), targets an estimated eight million children under the age of ten following the most recent outbreak of the disease which has already caused a reported 3,600 cases, according to a UN report. 

“This situation is unacceptable,” said UNICEF Representative Geert Cappelaere in a press statement released on 10 March. “Measles is a preventable disease and Yemen was close to being declared measles free in 2010 with zero deaths,” he added.

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Posted in Middle East, The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

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