Somali refugees top one million mark, says UN agency More than a million Somalis have now fled the war-torn nation for neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency has said. The UNHCR said insecurity and food shortages continued to be the main reasons for the flight. Only the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq forced so many people to leave their homes in the past decade. Somalia has been racked by fighting since its last effective national government was toppled 21 years […]

Aid agencies make Dadaab camp appeal Aid agencies working in the world’s largest refugee camp in Kenya say they are running out of funds, putting tens of thousands of lives at risk. Eight organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, say they are facing a shortfall of $25m (£16m), but that the need is greater than ever. The population at Dadaab, which lies near the Somali border, has increased by a third over the past year. It is now home […]

Canadian aid workers kidnapped in Kenya rescued by militia group in Somalia NAIROBI — Four aid workers kidnapped at gunpoint from Kenya’s largest refugee camp arrived back in Kenya’s capital aboard a military helicopter on Monday after a pro-government Somali militia group rescued the four inside Somalia. The four workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council smiled and waved after landing in Nairobi. “We are happy. We are back. We are alive and we are happy this has ended,” said Qurat-Ul-Ain […]

Aid workers abducted at Kenya’s Dadaab camp       Gunmen ambush and kill at least one person and kidnap four others on outskirts of refugee camp near Somali border.       Somali militants ambushed an aid convoy, killing a Kenyan aid worker and kidnapping four international workers at a Kenyan refugee camp near the border with Somalia, officials have said. Four international workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council were abducted on Friday after gunmen attacked a two-car convoy traveling through the sprawling Dadaab refugee […]

Aid workers kidnapped from Kenya’s Dadaab camp near Somalia A Kenyan driver has been killed and four foreign aid workers kidnapped at a refugee camp in Kenya close to the border with Somalia, police say. The foreigners, from Canada, Norway, Pakistan and the Philippines, worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council. They were travelling in a convoy when they were ambushed by gunmen in Dadaab, which houses more than 450,000 Somalis. Several aid workers have been kidnapped from Dadaab in the […]

Militants ambush aid workers in Kenya, kidnapping 4, including a Canadian NAIROBI, Kenya – Federal officials were scrambling Friday to learn more about  the fate of a Canadian, reportedly one of four international aid workers that  officials in Kenya said were kidnapped in their country by Somali militants. “What I can say is that we are aware of a reported kidnapping in Kenya,” said  Claude Rochon, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa, in an  email. “We are […]

Somali shopkeeper shot dead in Kenyan refugee camp DADAAB CAMPS, Kenya, Jun 23 – A Somali shopkeeper was shot dead in one of the refugee camps making up the sprawling Dadaab complex in eastern Kenya near the Somalia border, a local official said Saturday. The victim, who ran a small shop in the Dagahaley camp, was attacked by four or five unidentified gunmen on Friday, community leader Abdifatah Ismail, himself a Somali refugee, told AFP. “We heard gun shots at […]