Somalis flee in fear of war

2006-09-19 22:36

Nairobi - Thousands of refugees are flooding into Kenya fearing fresh unrest in neighbouring Somalia and a new surge is expected after an assassination attempt on the president, said the United Nations on Tuesday.

With tension soaring between the weak Somali government and powerful Islamists who control much of the country's south, the UN refugee agency said more than 600 Somalis had arrived in Kenya on Monday, the highest daily total this year.

"The flow of Somali refugees seeking asylum in Kenya continues to rise," said the UNHCR, noting that since the beginning of last week an average of 300 people per day - triple the previous count - were crossing the border.

But 442 were registered on Friday, more than 500 over the weekend, and 652 on Monday bringing to more than 3 400 the number of often weak and hungry Somali refugees to have arrived in Kenya since September 13, it said.

Fear of violence

About 25 000 people have fled across the border from various areas of Somalia since the beginning of the year when fierce fighting first erupted between the Islamists and warlords in Mogadishu, said the UNHCR .

Many of those have come from the capital and surrounding areas, including the southern port of Kismayo where Muslim gunmen advanced last week, fearing violence, conscription and harassment by rival factions, it said.

But it warned of a higher influx from there and other areas, notably the government seat of Baidoa, as concern mounts for clashes after Monday's unsuccessful attempt on the president's life that killed 11 people.

"We are... concerned that the attempt to assassinate the Somali president yesterday (on Monday) in Baidoa may further cause additional displacement of families," said the UNHCR in a statement released in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Children appear malnourished

It said at least 30 people from Baidoa had already made their way to Kenya, where facilities and supplies for refugees at the Dadaab complex of three camps, already home to 134 000 mainly Somali residents, were being strained.

"People crossing the border generally suffer from general fatigue and children appear to be malnourished," said the UNHCR.

To cope, the agency said it and the Kenyan government would expand Dadaab, a vast dustbowl of makeshift houses and thorn shrubs, 100km from the Somali border and 470km northeast of Nairobi.

Somalia, a nation of about 10 million, has been without a functioning central authority since 1991.

The current government, the latest in more than a dozen internationally-backed attempts to restore stability, has been crippled by infighting and faces threats from the increasingly powerful Islamists.

- SAPA