SOMALIA: UNHCR Chief is sleeping behind the wheels
By Ali Osman
August 17, 2009 — Darfur refugees got the support of UN, USA, European Union, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie but what was the response to two million Somali refugees languishing in hellish refugee camps in Kenya and Yemen? Absolute silence, I am not surprised the silence of the celebrities because the news media scantily touches the looming tragedy of the Somali refugees in Yemen and Kenya, but what I am surprised is the utter neglect by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), an agency that suppose to advocate on their behalf. The world silence on this disaster and scandalous response by the UNHCR and other non governmental agencies is unforgivable.
The camps in question are camps built for small number of refugees less than hundred thousand but they are overcrowded with ten times more than their capacity. The camps are so overcrowded that they can be seen from outer space and Google earth. These notorious camps have no basic necessities such as shelter, water, food, basic sanitation and are rife with communal diseases. To make matters worst, the host countries are not economically able to provide basic safety needs for the refugees. For example, rape of young women, forced abduction and rampant crime is daily occurrence in the refugee camps in Kenya.
It is common scene to see children as young as four years old scavenging food from garbage dumpsters and some as young as six years old washing cars or begging in the streets. These children normally would have been in school or could have had a better future if the UNHCR have done better job of advocating their rights. The number of refugees is increasing by the day and the situation is taking a dangerous turn. It is getting worse than any human can imagine but you don’t see CNN, ABC news, Al Jazeera showing their story. The pictures are too disturbing for western sensibilities.
Somewhere along the line, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Chief António Guterres must have forgotten the reason his agency was established back in December 14, 1950. The UN agency is tasked “to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.” It has failed to stand up to its charter and show the leadership required to deal with this human tragedy.
The UNHCR is not sounding the alarm bells or showing the urgency required to deal with the grave situation that millions of Somali refugees in Dadaab Kenya and Kharaz in Yemen are facing. The UNHCR is working business as usual in dealing with this bending doom. They are issuing press a release once in a while pointing the looming disaster but the disaster is already unfolding and the most of the world is not even aware of it.
Where is the coordination UNHCR is doing to help the refugees? What are they doing to coordinate countries willing to take refugees and how are they working with these countries to speed the process? Where is the urgency for shelter, water and sanitation for these refugees? There are hundreds of families that have family members in countries that are willing to take refugees but they are languishing in these hellish camps because the UNHCR is unable or uninterested to screen and process their papers.
Where is the advocacy for protection of Somali refugees? Can the UNHCR chief after visiting Dadaab and Kharaz camps say, Somali refugees are protected or have the basic necessities to survive? Where is the protection of refugee rights?
The Somali refugee crisis did not happen overnight; the UNHCR should have seen it and planned accordingly. Unfortunately they are not prepared and their field workers are not prepared to assist the refugees. It is getting worse by the day and I am afraid the world would be asking tough questions the people at the helm of the UN agencies. The worst refugee crisis in the 21st century is folding in front of us and we are unable or unwilling to do anything about it, Do Chief Guterres have good answers why a disaster that can be prevented is brewing and going out of control?
* Ali Osman is a Somali citizen currently living in United States. He can be reached at [email protected]