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Dadaab Refugees Call for Better, More Standard Support

Abdiwali Abdi Mohamed

   Somali and South Sudanese refugees in living in Kenya's sprawling
   Dadaab refugee camp say they need greater freedom of movement and more
   consistent support from donors if they are to establish new lives.

   Speaking at the Global Refugees Forum this week in Geneva, the refugees
   talked about their uncertain future and the absence of opportunities in
   Kenya.
   Mohamed Ahmed Abdisalam has been living in Dadaab since January 2009
   when he fled Somalia. He says the refugees in Dadaab lack the freedoms
   needed to find employment or set up businesses.

   "We are living in an open prison," Abdisalam said. "We don't have legal
   papers to move around and seek jobs. We need mental freedom, and to
   travel without fear."

   "Refugees are just like any other people, any other human being. They
   have rights to education, they have rights to shelter, they have rights
   to scholarships, and they have rights to waters and everything," says
   another Somali-born Dadaab resident, Aden Mohamed Hussein.

   Many Dadaab residents would like to leave but are stymied by lack of
   financial support and the still unstable situations in their home
   countries.

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