Medical charity MSF relocates workers from Dadaab to Nairobi over security concerns
Somali refugees at a market in Dadaab, Garissa County. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has relocated its staff from the Dadaab compound citing security concerns. There have been attacks by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in the area. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The announcement follows a spate of threats and attacks by militants allied to Al-Shabaab.
- The charity has worked at Dadaab since 1994 offering outpatient and inpatient services to about 335,000 Somali refugees.
- On Tuesday, the attackers ambushed a police convoy in Yumbis which is in the same county as Dadaab, killing one officer and injuring the others.
- MSF is one of the relief agencies that have opposed the immediate closure of the Dadaab camp.
Rising insecurity in the north has compelled a medical charity working at Dadaab Refugee camp in Garissa County to evacuate its staff to Nairobi.
In a statement on Wednesday, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was relocating 42 employees staying in its compound in Dadaab for safety reasons.
“This is a preventive measure, which will unfortunately have a direct impact on our ability to provide the much needed medical assistance to the refugees,” Beatrice Debut, MSF Regional Information Officer for East and Central Africa said.
“MSF will continue to evaluate the situation hoping that security in the camps for the refugees and our staff can be assured. Once guarantees have been obtained, MSF can return to full activities as soon as possible,” she added.
AL-SHABAAB ATTACKS
The announcement follows a spate of threats and attacks by militants allied to Al-Shabaab.
On Tuesday, the attackers ambushed a police convoy in Yumbis which is in the same county as Dadaab, killing one officer and injuring the others.
They also set ablaze the vehicles used by the police officers before fleeing.
Last week, suspected militants are said to have forced villagers to listen to their radical preaching at a mosque in the same county.
Two weeks ago, police at the Hamey Police Patrol Base in Dadaab were ambushed at night by a gang of about ten gunmen.
Police said they had killed two of them but the militants managed to kill one officer during the shooting battle.
MSF, which in 2013 pulled out of Somalia over attacks by Al-Shabaab on its staff, on Wednesday closed two health centres within the camp.
The two centres offered antenatal services to the refugees.
The charity has worked at Dadaab since 1994 offering outpatient and inpatient services to about 335,000 Somali refugees.
MSF is one of the relief agencies that have opposed the immediate closure of the Dadaab camp which the Kenyan government suspects to host terrorist sympathisers.
