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RNIS 42, August 2003
In brief
Eritrea
The Eritrean Relief and Refugees Commission has estimated that about 1.4 m
people are drought-affected and in need of food-aid in 2003. WFP intended to
support 900,000 people. However, due to a lack of resources (WFP has only 62% of
the food required), WFP can only assist 600,000 people (WFP, 14/08/03).
Moreover, an emergency operation to help 500,000 people (including malnourished
children, displaced populations, returnees and school children) had to be
delayed for three months because of a lack of resources (OCHA, 13/08/03; WFP,
14/08/03). As of mid-July, there was also a gap of seeds of more than 50% of the
requirements (FEWS,20/08/03).
Despite a reported good beginning of the Kremti rains, food insecurity is
expected to worsen until the next harvest, due by October 2003, because people
will have exhausted their food stocks (FEWS, 20/08/03).
There have been reports of high rates of acute malnutrition, reaching 14% to
20% (USAID, 24/07/03). Funds are needed to support drought-affected Eritreans.
Kenya
The two huge refugee camp areas have been affected over these past months. In
Dadaab area, 3,000 of the 130,000 refugees hosted in three camps were homeless
after floods devastated their homes (AFP, 07/05/03).
In Kakuma refugee camps, a riot between Sudanese refugees and Turkana people,
native to the area, has resulted in 12 deaths; 30,000 Sudanese refugees had
temporarily fled their shelters (OCHA, 22/07/03). The violence emerged after a
cattle-rustling incident. Rivalries between the Turkana people and refugees,
comes partly because of the destitution of both communities, which are
struggling to survive in the hard environment of this dry-hot area (OCHA,
22/07/03).
Food aid rations have been restored to their intended level (full ration),
from a previously 75% ration in March 2003 (WFP, 08/08/03).
Guinea
It is estimated that as of July 2003, about 27,000 people had entered the
country since the beginning of 2003, of whom 39% were Guineans returning from
Ivory Coast, 43% were Liberians, 10% were Ivorians and 8% were third country
nationals (OCHA, 31/07/03). Guinea was hosting an estimated 91,000 refugees as
of 3 July 2003 (OCHA, 31/07/03).
During the same period, 25,000 Sierra Leonese refugees were repatriated to
Sierra Leone (OCHA, 31/07/03).
Laine refugee camp, which has a capacity to host 6,000 people, is still
hosting 28,000 people, whilst relocation from the Kouankan refugee camp to the
Kissidougou area has begun; 6,100 out of 33,000 have been relocated so far (OCHA,
31/07/03).
Various studies tend to show that host-communities in Guinea are facing
growing difficulty meeting their food needs and access to basic services (OCHA,
30/07/03).
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