Kenya: Scores hurt in refugee camp clash

  1. Posted on Thursday 15 July 2010 - 15:28
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    Alex Kiarie, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
    Scores of refugees were hurt in clashes pitting Somali refugees against their Sudanese counterparts in the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab. The fight in the two refugee communities erupted after the mutilated body of a Somali child was found dumped in the Sudanese section of the Hagadera camp.
    kenya map
    Hagadera is one of the three camps that make up the larger Dadaab refugee Camp. Others are Ifo and Dagahaley.

    Confirming the incident, the District Commissioner for Fafi, Rashid Khator, under whom the camp falls administratively, said the clashes began with the discovery of a mutilated trunk of a Somali child, a short distance from where Sudan nationals are camped in Hagaldera. Witnesses said that some body organs including the head, the private parts and intestines were missing from the child's body.

    After the discovery, Somalia refugees regrouped and besieged the Sudanese sector, attacking anyone on sight. He also added that over 200 refugee of Sudanese nationality have been moved from Ifo camp, which has a larger Sudanese number, after their shelters were torched by the Somalis.

    He also added that this move was aimed at averting more chaos.


    For a long time, non-Somali refugees have been complaining of religious and racist attacks from their Somali counterparts. However, the extent of the attacks has not been well researched and documented. Some of the refugees who have complained of such attacks include those drawn from the Congolese, Ugandan, rwandese, Burundian, Gambela (From Ethiopia's Gambela province) Oromo (From Oromia in Ethiopia) and the Sudanese communities.

    Most of them have reported that they have been targetted for being Christian. There are also unconfirmed reports that school-going children from these communities are forced to wear the veils and recite Quranic verses for fear of being attacked by their Somali class mates.

    Dadaab refugee Camp is the world's largest refugee camp, and hold over one million refugees who have escaped their war-torn countries. Of these, 99 percent are Somalis from Somalia and Ogaden province in Ethiopia.

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