Donor shift to affect refugees’ stay in camps

• 40,000 out of 240,000 victims of Kenya post-election violence still in IDP camps
• The victims who have defied orders to return home may be pushed out by hunger

Internal refugees who have defied the Government’s order to return home may find themselves pushed out by hunger as donors shift focus to emerging crises in other parts of the world.

At least 240,000 victims of the post-election violence live in camps — 40,000 of them in the key camps the Government had sought to break up two Sundays ago and the rest in “transition” camps next to their farms.

Two months ago, the refugees were in focus within and without the country. About 20 humanitarian agencies, among them the United Nations and the Kenya Red Cross Society, were present in the 176 camps spread in parts of Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and Central provinces delivering food, shelter and medical services. Today the resources have dwindled and food has become scarce. “There is little coming in from donors,” says a source at the USAID.

“Donors feel that the issue is political and should be handled by the Government, not organisations that deal with emergencies,” the source added.

Narrowed down

And indeed, key donors, including the UN, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Oxfam have narrowed down their presence on the ground

“Our mandate has narrowed; only one person is on the ground dealing with psycho-social programmes,” a source at the IOM, who declined to be named said.
In January, the KRCS made an urgent appeal for Sh956 million. It received about Sh700 million. Two months ago, it asked for a further Sh1.5 billion. “Nothing has come in yet,” says Mr Abbas Gullet, the Kenya Red Cross chief. “The world is not static. The same donors are also dealing with emergencies all over the world. They have shifted to Myanmar, China, Darfur and other places,” he adds.
According to Mr Gullet, Kenya’s situation “is not an emergency. It is a rehabilitation issue”.

Apart from the Kenya Red Cross Society, the World Food Programme (WFP) has maintained its presence among the internal refugees, according to Mr Phillip Ochieng of the food agency.

Last week, the ambassadors of France and Australia and the head of the EU in Kenya, made a tour of Matharu Location — an area where hitherto antagonistic communities have returned and now coexist. Analysts viewed the development as support for the resettlement of those displaced by the violence, much to the anger of refugees who have refused to return unless they are compensated.

Donor withdrawal threatens food supply and the provision of medical and education services. It will also affect the provision of shelter and sanitation for thousands of refugees in camps as well as the returnees who still depend on handouts. The Government is unable to roll out these services, leave alone provide food. While the Kenya Red Cross Society has used over Sh700 million on refugees since last January, the Government has spent just Sh20 million in helping the returnees resettle.

“We have gone for 42 days without food rations,” says Mr John Nderitu, the chairperson of the internal refugees at the Eldoret ASK Showground camp with close to 5,000 violence victims who have refused to return home without compensation.

“Cleaners and garbage collectors do not come anymore as there is no one to pay for their services,” Mr Nderitu adds.
The area KRCS manager, Mr Patrick Nyongesa, denied claims that his organisation was no longer providing food: “I don’t know why they are saying this. We are giving them food.”

Sunday was the deadline for the 40,000 to move to their farms or transition camps. But many of them are demanding to be compensated first. “We are not leaving this place,” said Mr Nderitu. They claim that they were business people and not farmers. “We need compensation to rebuild our lives. We have no houses and our business were destroyed,” says Ms Rose Aktela, who lived in a rented house in Eldoret.

Although the Government is urging them to return home, it warns that quite a number of them are gold diggers — opportunists seeking compensation yet they were hardly directly affected by the violence.

“They should go home and start rebuilding their lives. They can make (compensation) claims later,” says Mr Gullet.