Ongoing fighting and famine are driving a growing number of Somalis to refugee camps in neighbouring Ethiopia. This year alone 98,000 refugees have crossed the border.

By Borja Santos Porras, Dolo Odo region, Ethiopia

Habiba is a young mother who arrived at Bokolmayo refugee camp near the Ethiopan-Somali border a few weeks ago. Her child is suffering from malnutrition. Her story is similar to that of many of her fellow refugees, says health extension worker Ibrahim: “Many of these people come from rural areas with a lack of education and health services. They do not even know what a health center is. Therefore we need to explain them very clearly what we can do for them.”

Last week, UNCHR published a very alarming nutrition survey. UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahečić: “In Ethiopia's Dolo Odo area, a nutrition survey at the Kobe and Hilaweyn camps has found high levels of malnutrition among children under five years of age. Refugees at both camps arrived from Somalia in extremely poor health condition, with many families losing children to malnutrition en route or after arrival in Ethiopia. Health and nutrition programmes have been set up by a range of experienced partners to address malnutrition, especially among the youngest children, but progress has been slow, as this survey confirmed.”

1.5 million internally displaced
According to the UNCHR, more than 180, 000 or 65.5 percent of the registered 276,000 refugees in Ethiopia today are Somalis. Over 98,000 of them arrived since the beginning of 2011, fleeing the conflict and drought in Somalia, which drove hundreds of thousands to neighbouring countries displaced some 1.5 million within Somalia itself. Those in Ethiopia are accommodated in eight refugee camps, three in the Jijiga area and five in the Dolo Odo region. The newest camp, Bur Amino, was opened only one week ago.