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UNHCR delivers more assistance
as Kenyan IDP numbers grow
01 Feb 2008 11:42:53 GMT
Source: UNHCR
UNHCR immediately handed over 1,800 family kits – enough for 9,000
people – and 25 lightweight tents to Kenya Red Cross for
distribution to internally displaced people (IDPs) in the three
locations at Tigoni, Kikuyu and Kabete. By yesterday (Thursday)
afternoon, there were an estimated 7,000 people massed at Tigoni
police station as more people arrived on trucks piled high with
household goods. Some 2,000 more IDPs were camped at police
stations in Kikuyu and Kabete.
Many of the IDPs at the Tigoni police station said they had fled
after receiving on Tuesday morning chilling warnings to leave. The
notices – giving them 72 hours to vacate their homes or face the
consequences – had been delivered by unknown people via leaflets
dropped at night in several Tigoni neighbourhoods. Some IDPs said
landlords had asked them to leave for fear their houses would be
burned because they were lodging "outsiders."
A registration that began on Thursday afternoon was to be followed
by a distribution of the UNHCR-donated family kits. Each kit
contains plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, jerry cans,
mosquito nets, sanitary supplies, soap and kitchen sets for a
family of up to five people. Other distributions were carried out
in Kabete. At a meeting with local authorities on Thursday
afternoon, some IDPs expressed a wish to go to their ancestral
homes, mainly in western Kenya. Many, however, said they could not
afford the transportation costs.
This week, UNHCR has assisted in the evacuation of more than 250
vulnerable internally displaced people who were camped at Bahati
police station, some 40 kms from Nakuru, the Rift Valley
provincial capital. The IDPs were brought to safety to Nakuru's
main stadium, which is currently hosting 8,000 IDPs. The
evacuation was organized jointly with the Irish NGO GOAL. UNHCR
also provided more tents for some of the 5,000 IDPs camping at the
Bahati police station, Holy Cross Church in Nakuru town and Solai
police station, 50 kms north of Nakuru.
Meanwhile, UNHCR on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Kenya Road Cross Society.
Under it, UNHCR will support the
Kenya Red Cross by providing emergency shelter and basic household
items, assist with camp coordination and management, and
strengthen systems for IDP registration.
The government of Kenya and the
Kenya Red Cross estimate there are now more than 250,000 IDPs
living in over 300 IDP sites in various parts of the country.
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