Dadaab: the ignored lament refugees
Behind the figure 51 million people, there 51 millions of stories of people who have lost their land, part of their identity, they can not return home, They are waiting years to return to join his family without knowing if they are alive. 51 millions of people who are white noise in the middle of nowhere.
"When you do not think you run away never return to your land, you leave everything and think it is temporary. One day you realize that return is not an option, you're a refugee ", states Zeituni, procente South Sudan.
«One day you realize that returning is not an option», se lamenta Zeituni
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in August 2014 He had exceeded the capacity of the Kakuma camp, on the northwestern border of Kenya, over 100.000 residents, mostly from South Sudan.
Zeituni account from the Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi, where he has spent the last ten days entered, that life in the refugee camp does not offer the necessary conditions to live. "We have enough space, no water for all. I do not want to heal, I want to stay in this hospital, I do not want to return to the refugee camp ", says. "There are a lot of fights, There are many security problems, we had to stop being free in exchange for being alive ".
«Fleeing our country was our decision, But for most of us, being here is no longer so.", says Nawal
The number of refugees and displaced people worldwide has reached the figure of 51,2 million people, according to data it released last day 20 UNHCR for World Refugee Day. And Kenya It is also the largest refugee camp in Africa, in Dadaab, a few kilometers from the border with Somalia, with 400.000 people living in it.
"I left Somalia with my kids; my husband told me he would meet me soon. Ten years have passed and I have not heard anything from him. I can not find him again, their children do not know if his father is dead or alive ", reports Nawal from the Dadaab camp. "Flee our country was our decision, but for most of us to be here it is no longer, we simply have no choice ".
«For me, being a refugee means that in some way they protect me, but it also means that I am not free.", Farah reflects
Farah He fled Egypt because his brother, Coptic, he married a Muslim. The family of the girl killed in revenge for her parents and she fled to Kenya, where he lives as a refugee without knowing barely speak English and all alone. "I say a few words in English explains in Arabic, important: food, water, refugee. For me being a refugee it means that somehow protect me, but it also means that I am not free. I did not think about that before I left my country ", says.
Mokhtar, Kenyan-Somali journalist, photo teaches his cousin. "He left Mogadishu because he said someone had offered him the way to reach Europe", account. "We know nothing of him for months, I hope he did not die at sea. Those who flee do so because they have nothing to lose ".
"Then one day you wake up and you realize you've been twelve years thinking that being a refugee is temporary", Halim complains
"At first you hope that soon get a visa to go to refugee US or Canada. Everyone knows someone who has a relative who came to America after spending time in one of the refugee camps in Kenya ", said Halim from Dadaab. "Suddenly one day you will wake up and you realize you've been twelve years thinking that being a refugee is temporary. Twelve years".
and Kenya, generated debate about whether or not to close Dadaab has pointed to the supposed interests of the Government in maintaining a refugee camp, which it is also a hot spot for smuggling into and out of Somalia, for over twenty years.
The Dadaab camp, smuggling hot spot, Open for over 20 years
"It seems that refugees are just an uncomfortable issue on the agenda of the various governments that have to decide for them", explains Maalim Mayer, Kenyan-Somali social worker. "They have taken away their ability to make decisions".
refugees, lest we forget, They fled for their lives, to fight for their future. Not to be slaves of the word "refugee", that it seems to anchor the same past misfortunes left behind.
Comments (4)
MDV
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A very hard article shows us a reality that remains far. It's scary to think that many of these refugees also never thought that someday it would behoove them.
Thank approach them and tell us what they transmit.
If only there were really way to help!
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Miguel
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And you've been there? You have to tell us more. It must be hard to see that firsthand, dangerous and hard…
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GB
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Causes much suffering stupidity of man. Very good article, Mary. Give voice to those who have none.
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Maria Ferreira
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Thanks, MDV! Yes, Miguel, I have been there! Thank you very much, GB. It's great to read you here!
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