webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon May 16 2011 - 08:22:22 EDT
UN: 5.3 million East Africans uprooted by war and disasters; 8.8 million
face drought
By Peter James Spielmann, The Associated Press – 2 days ago
More than 5.3 million East Africans in 10 countries have been uprooted by
internal conflicts and natural disasters, the United Nations said Friday.
Some 1.4 million refugees have been forced to cross national borders while 4
million others are displaced within their home countries.
Droughts have also stricken about 8.8 million East Africans, sowing hunger
and homelessness, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs reported.
OCHA's figures covered the month of March. It said the totals on east Africa
showed an 8 per cent increase in refugees over the previous six months, but
a 3 per cent decrease in "internally displaced persons" who have not crossed
a national border.
Ethiopia was most affected, with 3.2 million people now in need of
humanitarian aid. In Somalia more than 50,000 people were displaced by a
combination of armed conflict and natural disasters during March, OCHA said.
The countries monitored were Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Congo.
Worrisome trends included an increase of more than 50,000 refugees in Kenya
and 19,000 fleeing warfare in Somalia, and drought there from the 2010 La
Nina weather pattern.
Increased attacks on civilians in eastern Congo by the Lord's Resistance
Army, and clashes in Somalia between the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab
and African Union peacekeepers and the nominal government in Mogadishu
partly drove the increase in refugees, OCHA said.
Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----